The Bells
by GBlackwell
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1: The Woman at the Restaurant

Chapter 1

Light Yagami was bored. He had been waiting for Misa to show up for ten minutes and his attention was beginning to drift. It was not like her to be late. Even if she had learned about some modeling job at the last minute…it would be unlike her to cancel any of their dates. All in all, it was fine with him. He would wait five more minutes, and go home relieved. He never liked their dates, at any rate.

He looked around the room. It was one of the better restaurants around, and so it was filled with elegantly dressed men and women, none of which looked very interesting. His mind wandered to the…not exactly boredom, but sudden limpness of his life since L's death two months ago. He almost missed that idiot genius for making things interesting…

"That is…not… a nice…look" a slow, accented voice said.

Light blinked out of his thoughts and looked around, but didn't know who said it.

"What?" Light asked.

"I am right here." The lady said, slowly. It was definitely a woman, although she spoke in a low register. Light turned to look at her: a red-haired foreign lady, dressed in black, sitting so tensely straight that he thought she could have snapped at any moment. She was staring at him blankly.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Light asked.

"That…look... on your face. "

Light clenched his teeth. What was wrong with this lady, commenting on his expression when they didn't even know each other? He wondered if he should ignore her.

"It was…positively…the most self-satisfied smile… I have ever seen." Still she spoke slowly, drawing out every vowel sound and spitting out every consonant. "All I could wonder is…..what…devilish thought brought about that smile on your face?"

L's death. That's what brought about 'that look' on his face, Light realized.

"There…you did it again." The lady told him.

"I am sorry, ma'am, but who are you?"

"Ohhhhhhh. Right…Call me Regina."

"Regina? Then you're visiting here in Japan?"

"Yes." Then, to Light's surprise, the lady switched to a different language and muttered something to herself. After her mumbling, she said to him in clear, slow Japanese, "My apologies….please accept them…I just realized I have unforgivably rude, commenting on your face…I am lacking in manners."

Light looked at the lady. Her face was still mostly blank, but a certain change informed him that she was sincerely embarrassed by her own behavior. "I accept, ma'am."

His phone buzzed. "Hold on, ma'am," he said.

The lady turned her head robotically back to her empty plate. Light read the message in silence, then said, "It seems my date is in the hospital…she fell down the stairs on the way out of an interview. I was wondering why she was late."

Regina said, "Ah, I'm very sorry."

"If you don't mind my asking, are you here to meet someone?" Light asked.

"There you go…an uncomfortable question to pay back my rude comment earlier."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't…be. Yes, I may have… almost been hoping to meet someone here." What happened to her face was amazing. It hardly twitched, and yet Light got the sense of most horrible sense of desolation.

"I see."

There some something about this lady, maybe her lack of movement, maybe blank and somehow sad expression, that awoken pity in him. She had been rude, but she was obviously very hurt. And besides, she definitely didn't seem like the clingy type, so a small gesture of kindness wouldn't hurt. "Here. Since both of us are lacking a date at the moment, sit over at my table."

The lady's eyes widened. She suddenly seemed unsure. "Well…"

"Come on."

"Very well." She said. She got up and sat over by him. They sat for a long time in silence, and ordered dinner. Their conversation continued when they were eating.

"So tell me about this person you were going to meet."

She looked him dead in the eye. "I can't tell you much."

Light chuckled, "Why's that?"

"I never met him."

Light raised his eyebrows curiously. There was a silence and Regina asked, "I suppose you expect me to explain?"

"That would be interesting."

Regina sighed. "Suppose… you had been looking for… something for a very long time. The answer to a question. A question crucial to your soul. And you got desperate, looking for this answer and hearing everyone tell you that you'll never find it. Until one day you meet…this man. This man says he has been watching you, and…that he knows what you are looking for. He advises you to give up. But…you can't. You refuse him to his face… Then he gets this unfathomable look in his eyes, and he…"

"Is actually your soul mate?" Light asked, suppressing a smile.

"No. This is not a question of romance. But this this man gets that unfathomable look in his eye and he says, 'Very well. There is this restaurant…I believe it is the best restaurant in the entire world. It's a lovely place in Japan, particularly lovely in the fall. I believe that it will always be my favorite on the fifth of November at 5:00pm. Keep up your job. Try to live your life. I believe that in three years, you will cease to be tormented by that question. But if not…then perhaps there will be someone to guide you to the answer.'"

"And…?" Light asked.

"And he gave me the address to this place. I never saw him again after that. I thought that maybe he had meant that I was to meet him, or someone else, here on this November the 5th, exactly three years after he told me. But…I did not."

"I see."

"So here I am."

"I thought that some jerk had just walked out on you." Light said.

"I wish it were that. That would be a one-night disappointment. This is a three-year disappointment."

"Yes. So that's why you were looking around at people. You wanted to try and spot this fellow."

"Yes. I waited since 4:30 pm. It is now past 7:00."

"But you were distracted by my face."

Regina's expression got more pleasant; her eyes smiled even if her lips didn't. "It's a handsome face. And the look was very interesting. What thought spurred on that look?"

She had given him her story. It would be polite to give her a little tidbit, "It was a promotion I got at work."

"Promotion? You don't seem old enough to be excited about a promotion…And besides, that look was too wicked for such an innocent thought." Now she had a mischievous glint in her eye, "I thought 'murder.' Perhaps you got that promotion because someone at your workplace conveniently dropped dead?" Light felt like a cold spike went through his body. "But of course I am just playing around with you. I read too many mystery novels, you see."

"Of course" Light laughed.

There was another silence. She said, "You seem like an unusually kind and courteous person. Is it your habit to take up a date with a girl just to spare her feelings when she has been dropped? And look, now you're blushing. I am afraid I've been unusually forward tonight."

Light had indeed turned red, "It's not-"

"You don't have to console me. I think that it shows a compassionate character. I swear, I won't be one of those girls who cling to those gestures as though they were true signs of romantic interest. I won't. I just want to say, thank you."

Light was quiet for a long time, "It's not that you're unattractive...But I do have a girlfriend."

"Of course. And I believe she _must _be in the hospital right now. What else would keep her from a date at such a wonderful place and with a good-looking, compassionate man who has the smile of a vampire?"

"Thank you."

"Is your girlfriend into vampires? That's the latest craze."

"Yes…" Light found himself grinning, "A little bit."

There was another pause. Then, Regina's face grew more serious. "I am going to ask you…you know. I can't help it…though I am almost certain you are not the one I am supposed to meet. I still have to ask."

A bit perplexed by her behavior, Light said, "Alright, ask." He started to take a sip of his drink.

"Did Ryuzaki send you?"

Light choked, and his head swirled. Every alarm bell in his consciousness went off. Ryuzaki. L. Ryuzaki. L. His nemesis; the one no one was supposed to mention. Ryuzaki? How did this woman know him? Perhaps it was another Ryuzaki, not the great detective, but another man of the same name…no, it couldn't be. There were no coincidences like that.

"N-no" Light asked, still choking. He immediately began to form a plan to find out how much information this woman knew…

"I thought not. Ohhhhhhh well… I'll be leaving now. Thank you for the date. It was…lovely, but I have...something to do. Should I pay my own tab?"

"What? No…"

"Very well then, Mr. Gentleman." She stood up. "I'll see you later…or…not so, I suppose." And with that she walked briskly out of the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2: She Gets Away

Chapter 2

Light stopped choking and hesitated a bit before running out of the restaurant. "Miss Regina, wait!"

He wondered if he should just let the whole thing go. The chances of this Regina woman knowing anything important, even if the Ryuzaki she was talking about was the one he was thinking of, were slight. Yet he couldn't let it go; something like this had to be dealt with. The future of the New World could depend on what this woman knew about L and the Kira investigation, and even if she didn't, only a sloppy person would leave a detail like this to fate.

Regina was walking firmly away. He ran up to her, "Miss Regina! Why are you leaving so suddenly? Did I do something wrong?"

Regina stopped and turned back to stare at him. "I have book club."

"Book club."

"Yes, an online book club. It starts about this time, and I don't want to miss it."

"Seriously?"

"I realize that I didn't seem to be keeping track of the time before."

"But I would like to-"

His sentence was interrupted by a waiter storming out of the restaurant, "Sir! You and the lady didn't pay your bill!"

"Can that wait?"

"NO! Pay before leaving the restaurant: that's our policy!"

Light turned around and said, "Give us a minute?"

"THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOUR ROMANTIC CRAP!"

"It's not-"

"DON'T GIVE ME EXCUSES!"

"Just a—"

"YOU COME IN RIGHT NOW AND PAY OR ELSE!"

"But-"

"NOW, ASSHOLE!"

"I'm coming! Regina, can you wait a second?"

But Regina had already disappeared, apparently walking away quietly during all the shouting

Light returned to his apartment, and heaved a sigh. She had slipped out of his grasp; was this a bad thing? Maybe not. Maybe she didn't know anything relating to L. Maybe she knew Ryuzaki, but didn't know his real identity and had met him in some other circumstance. L might not have been so averse to showing his face if no one knew his name. He might have had friends and acquaintances entirely separate from his L identity. This might be one of them. His girflfriend? Light chuckled at the idea. Regina was a weird woman, but still she would be quite a catch for the antisocial L. The idea of any woman dating Ryuzaki was preposterous, but a good-looking, poised one like Regina? Light

She had told him that story about meeting a man, and that man telling her to come on November 5. It would seem that that man was Ryuzaki…L…and not a close friend of Regina. So it was unlikely that Regina knew anything important. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had to do something about this problem.

With that resolution, Light Yagami sat down. His cell phone buzzed again, and he read a hurt message from Misa:_ Y HAVNT U TXTD ME?_

Light Yagami texted back about how business had interfered, and how he was really worried about her and hoped she was well. Then he let his head fall back and sighed again.

Ryuzaki…L…

He remembered those days: There was first the broadcast on T.V. in which he was tricked into showing his hand and revealing his location. L had defeated him without even showing his face. Then, that day when he saw a disheveled student who had apparently scored equally to him in college entrance exams. The student had approached him, deviously saying, "I'm L." He couldn't kill him, because that would reveal that he was Kira. Then, when L began to suspect him further, they had been handcuffed together 24 hours a day. This had been a bizarre twist which had at first made Light and Misa wonder about his sexual orientation, but was really just a product of his paranoia.

But of course he remembered most clearly the day he had died. The handcuffs were removed, of course, and he found L standing in the rain, saying something incoherent about the bells. And then, right when Ryuzaki was about to test the rule that proved Light "innocent" Rem killed both him and his butler, Watari.

Light particularly remembered that moment. L had dropped the spoon he had been holding and toppled off his chair. He had been the first to get to L on the ground.

It was funny. At first, he didn't realize why he did this. This gesture of…concern was completely superfluous. It would have been fine if he had watched him fall from a distance. But he was there, and he watched as Ryuzaki's eyes had widened, then closed.

Light was smiling again. Ryuzaki had _known _in that last moment. He had always known, and Light got to show him his failure in the last second of his life.

"What are you laughing at, Light-o?" asked Ryuk, the Shinigami who hovered around Light.

"A person I met today mentioned Ryuzaki."

"Oh? That's interesting."

"Except I lost this person before I could get her last name and write it down."

Ryuk cackled. "Any time you want to make the eye deal, Light…"

"Out of the question."

"So what will you do?"

For once, Light had no answer.

The next day, Light went to visit Misa in the hospital. As he got off the bus and began walking along the sidewalk, he was distracted by the sight of a red-haired woman dressed in black. His head snapped around. The woman turned to look at him, but he couldn't get a good look at her face. She began walking more quickly. Soon, she had disappeared into the crowd.

Light swore under his breath. He had lost again.


	3. Chapter 3: A Second Chance Encounter

Chapter 3

Light thought that he would never see the woman again, but then by pure chance they met again. This time, it was in the police station.

She was at the front desk. Her eyes were persuasively wide.

"Are you…absolutely certain… that you have never heard of a Ryuzaki?" she was asking the man at the desk.

"Ma'am…I told you that even if I had that would be confidential police information…"

"Ahhhhhh…but I am not doing that you see…" she leaned against the desk, "I am not asking you to give me police files about Ryuzaki….I only ask if that name is familiar…Have you heard of a Ryuzaki…sometime?"

"Well, the name does ring a few bells. But I can't remember where I heard it."

"A criminal?"

"No. I don't think so."

"A victim?"

"I can't really remember…"

"Well, how about, maybe someone just mentioned it around you and never explained who it was?"

"That actually might have been…"

"Miss Regina" Light said.

Regina strangely did not respond, "So maybe something that not a lot of the police…"

By now, Light had walked up right next to her, "Miss Regina."

She turned around, "Your face…is familiar. Have we met?"

"Yes, the other night at the restaurant."

The cop behind the desk seemed disappointed, "Ah, Light, how many girls do you know anyway?"

"Ah, yes. I remember the restaurant."

"Could I talk to you privately."

"Yeeeeesssss."

"Outside?"

"Very well."

The police officer still seemed disappointed when Regina left to walk outside. Light turned to her and waited as the silence passed.

"So, Mr. Light, is it?" she finally said.

"Light Yagami."

"I'll call you Mr. Yagami. I am more comfortable with the English style of address." Regina blinked slowly, "So, why are you here, Mr. Yagami?"

"I work for the police."

"Re-a-lly? Do I get to see a badge?"

Light pulled out his badge and showed her. She said, "Well, it seems you are. Pardon me, but you didn't seem like the cop type. You seem way too young to be in this kind of work…though I suppose nothing is impossible."

"And what are you doing here?" Light asked.

"By the way, did I see you by the hospital yesterday? Are you following me?"

"No…I was there to see my girlfriend."

Regina blinked again, "That's right."

"Now, what are you doing here?"

Regina paused, and looked up to the sky for a moment, her rigidly posture barely adjusting to it, and then looked down at him again, "I told you two nights ago about why I was at the restaurant."

"Yes."

"The man who hinted I come was named Ryuzaki. But I suppose you surmised that much, considering I asked you about Ryuzaki."

"I figured, yeah."

"Well, now I am trying to find him. It is that simple. I need the answer, and since I have no other leads I am going to find Ryuzaki."

Light wondered what he should do. He said, "Do you mind if we walk?"

"No."

They walked quietly for a while. Then, Light asked, "What does this Ryuzaki person look like?"

"Why do you want to know?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Curiosity."

"Well, he looked part Japanese but also seemed to have a lot of European in him. He crouched instead of sitting, and hunched over while he stood up. He had large black eyes with dark circles underneath them."

It was L, no mistake. "Why did he come to you?"

"He said, for my own safety, I had to stop…something that I was doing."

"What was that?"

"Forget it. I am trying to find Ryuzaki."

"And how do you plan to do this?"

Regina told him, "I have hired a private detective."

"And how is this private detective going about it?"

"That…is not really a matter for your…concern…Tell me, how is your girlfriend?"

Light said, "Fine. She will be out of the hospital in a week. How much do you know about this Ryuzaki?"

Regina looked at Light and her eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at her as well, and immediately knew that the woman was hiding something. She was definitely think hard, and she stopped walking. Light stopped as well.

"Mr. Yagami" she said, "I do not know…why you were trying to follow me at the hospital. I do not know why…you tried to follow me after the restaurant. Now that you are…asking me…these questions about Ryuzaki I surmise only one thing: You in fact know about this Ryuzaki and want to know how much I…know. Why…would…that…be?"

Light felt uncomfortable under her stare. There was something about it that made him want to strangle her. He said, "Miss Regina, I do not know what you mean."

"You choked when I mentioned the name last night. You also got a strange…look in your eye. Let me turn the tables on you: what exactly do you know about Ryuzaki and why do you want to know what I know?"

Light thought, and then he said, "It is cold, and this conversation will take a long time. How about we go somewhere more comfortable?"

"I would agree to that."

"Then come. I'll drive you to a café that I know."

They walked over to Light's car in complete silence, drove in complete silence, and finally arrived at the café. Light sat down at his favorite table, and suddenly remembered that he and L had sat at this same spot soon after meeting the first time…

"What's wrong? You got a funny face on." Regina told him.

"You are very much about interpreting people's facial expressions, aren't you? I was a bit nostalgic; this place brings back memories." they both sat down.

"So, I don't believe I caught your full name, Miss Regina."

"I don't believe I dropped it."

"Well?"

"Ms. Regina Tristessa Doman. Mouthful, I know. European naming traditions, you know."

"You are European then?" he asked.

"Yeesssss."

"And what brings you here?"

"I told you. Answer to a question." She said.

"What question is that?"

"I am not saying…it is too personal."

"And what line of work are you in?"

"Many…lines of work."

Light was now genuinely curious. Being European, she may have met L there, seemingly when he was barely an adult. L had mentioned being in Britain for five years. Was it possible that she knew "Ryuzaki" longer than she admitted, that she knew he was L and had come to see if he was still alive?

"Where in Europe did you say you were from?"

"I didn't say. Your attention wanders too easily. Britain. God save the Queen. That's where I grew up."

Britain again. There was a five percent chance… no, what was he thinking in percentages for? Regina had not directed her gaze from his face the entire time, but had stared at him blankly.

"And now, Mr. Yagami, please tell me exactly what you know about Ryuzaki."

Light paused, "What if it were confidential police information?"

"Oooh, confidential. Though I suppose someone of Ryuzaki's character would have to be confidential. Well, is it?"

Light hesitated.

"I see you are hesitating to tell me if it is or not." Regina said, still staring blankly at him, "I can only think of two possible motives for that…Do you want to hear my…train of thought? Well, then, continuing on, there are only two possible motives you could have for not wanting to tell me whether the information is confidential. The first reason would be that it is confidential to even mention Ryuzaki's name, and that it is somehow confidential to mention the existence of such a person. The second reason is that it is not confidential, you've been leading me on, and have a personal reason to keep Ryuzaki's information a secret. Judging from your expression upon my analysis, I would say there is a 4/10 chance of the first option and a 5/10 chance of the second option, and a 1/10 chance that I have overlooked something and am thinking about it in the wrong light. There is also a 8/10 chance it is a combination of the first two options. Or at least, that's what my intuition tells me."

Light was feeling less comfortable with this woman.

"Since the option that you have been leading me on for some unknown motive is the biggest option, then me ask you this: what reason could you possibly have to mislead me?"

Light was silent for a while, and then he said, "I am sorry, was that actually meant to be a question?"

"Yes, I expect you to answer it."

"But I have no reason to mislead you…"

"But that's not what I asked. I asked what reason you _could _have to deceive me, not what reason you absolutely did have. Well…I suppose I must finish without your help…"

Regina cleared her throat. Then she began, "It seems that you would in no way desire to stop me from reaching my personal goal. Therefore, it must be some big deal about Ryuzaki's identity to keep it a secret. But what could that…be? Hmmmm…..hmmmmm…..no…..nuh-uuuuuuhhhhhhh. I got it. First Option: He is in some sort of witness protection program, because he testified against a major crime boss such as the mafia. Second option: he is a criminal whose existence the police doesn't want to admit for fear it would be counter-productive…" Regina trailed off, her eyes dropping to the table.

"What else?" Asked Light.

"Both of those options are extremely unlikely, though" She said, "Because of Kira."

Light froze a little. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the chances of Ryuzaki being in witness protection, or being a high-time criminal are diminished. You see, if Ryuzaki was a mafia boss, then the police (and you) would not want to hide his identity. You would probably not care if his name and face were leaked, and he were killed. You definitely would not be as nervous as you are right now. Also, witness protection is not such a big deal anymore either, for the same reason, and so I don't think ou would be getting upset over that…"

Light felt a lump form in his throat.

Regina closed her eyes for a second, and then popped them open. "I got it," She said, "Ryuzaki would be someone Kira was trying to kill. A police officer or detective or a reporter who had ticked Kira off…but if her were a newsperson, Ryuzaki would probably be dead already because he would have shown his face on television. So, I suppose I will presume that he is part of some sort of law enforcement?"

Light gulped, then laughed, "You have a good mind, but I think you are going in the wrong direction."

Regina looked at him, "I got something right, didn't I? I saw that look on your face. I did get something right. Thank you, Mr Yagami." Her lips formed a crafty smile, "You have told me a great deal today by telling me very little. I ought to be going now, but could we do this again sometime?"

Light Yagami felt his blood boil inside of him. He wanted to strangle her. What should he do? He said, calmly, "I think that would be a good idea, Miss Regina. You are an interesting person and we should get to know each other better. What is your phone number?" Light took out a scrap of paper and smiled.

"303 480 2730" she told him. Light wrote it down.

"And what is your full name again? Please spell it out, so I can make sure I have it down right."

"R-E-G-I-N-A, I suppose I'll skip my middle name, D-O-M-A-N."

Light Yagami wrote, Regina Doman. Accidental death. Hit by a car while walking out of a café. _10:00 am _"Thank you, Miss Regina. I am certain we'll be seeing more of each other in the future."

"Of course." And with that Regina got up, picked up her purse, and walked toward the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride?" Light asked.

"I'll get a taxi." She told him, and walked out the doorway.

Light covered his face to keep from laughing. He had won. Then, a thought bothered him. This woman hadn't really been a proven threat to Kira's New World. She had been looking for Ryuzaki for a personal reason, and he had killed her for it. A slight wave of remorse struck him: she was innocent. She had even seemed sympathetic when she was talking about how Kira was changing the world… Still, there had been a slight chance that she might become a threat, perhaps by finding out about L's death and leaking it to the world… No, what was he thinking? Had he become too paranoid? The woman was innocent…

He realized to himself that the real reason he wanted to kill her was because she had induced so much information out of him against his will. That was the real reason for her death: he did not like to be beaten even in small matters. But that was not a good reason to kill.

Light stood up and rushed out of the door after her, "Miss Regina!"

She was in the process of hailing a taxi, when she turned around and asked, "What?"

"Is there any chance you'd tell me what that question is?"

Regina paused, "The question that has been driving my life for the past few years? Maybe on our next outing."

Light, walking closer to her, knew that at least he would not worry about her becoming a threat now. "Could at least give me a hint about the question before you…"

"Before I what?"

"Leave?"

She sighed, "I said, next ti-"

But before she could finish, she was bumped by a person running past her. Unbalanced this way, she stumbled off the street and fell into the road. Light knew what was coming. He started forward anyway in order to…stop it? No. Watch it more closely? Watch a life drain from the body?

But what he thought would happen, did not happen. Miraculously, Regina rolled out of the street and into the gutter right before she was killed. The only problem was that she smcked her head hard on the pavement.

Light watched in amazement, then reached forward to pick her up. She seemed a little dazed, and said, "Rude…people…here…I…think I'll have to…accept your offer for a ride…home…."

Light didn't understand. He checked his watch: It was 10:01. Regina should be dead. Then, he was suddenly aware of Ryuk, standing beside him, cackling incessantly. The truth struck him in the face: Regina was an alias. She had not given him her real name.

**Please review.**

**Does Regina's character seem to be developing?**

**Are you still interested?**

**Do you have any suggestions?**


	4. Chapter 4: One Week Later

Chapter 4:

"What are you doing standing out there by yourself?"

The sound of rain nearly drowned his voice out. Ryuzaki tilted his ear toward him, obviously not understanding what he had said. Light clenched his teeth as hard as he could, then shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING OUT THERE BY YOURSELF?"

Ryuzaki made a gesture of incomprehension. Light reluctantly walked out and asked the question again.

Ryuzaki turned away from him, "Oh, it's nothing. Just…the bells."

"The bells?"

"The bells have been ringing…incessantly today. I find it very distracting. Perhaps it's a church? …a wedding? Or a…"

"What are you talking about, Ryuzaki? I don't hear any bells."

Silence. The sound of rain.

"Of course." Ryuzaki said, "Don't listen to anything I say… half of it's nonsense anyway." Ryuzaki was looking at the ground, the rain rolling off his cheeks.

"I understand Ryuzaki. Most of what you say is just misleading. I understand that better than anyone. There would be no end to it all if I took you seriously all the time."

"I would say that's a fair assessment. But I could say the same about you."

"What?"

"Tell me, Light. Have you ever told the truth at any point since the moment you were born?"

* * *

><p>A week had passed. Light had seen 'Regina' every day, but had talked to her about everything except for Ryuzaki. She had not seemed anxious to get more information out of him, and instead they had had conversations about everything from art to pop culture. He was now on his way to meet her. He was driving and Ryuk was in his car.<p>

"But why are you seeing her every day, talking to her about all this crap?" Ryuk said.

"I need to know how much she knows…and I can't see any way of doing that besides getting to know her. She'll tell me herself if we get friendly enough. She doesn't seem to have many friends, and will probably open up to me easily."

"You know…any time you want to make the eye deal…"

"Shut up about that, Ryuk. I don't need to kill her. I overreacted last time, and I was childishly upset about her ability to guess so much."

Ryuk cackled, "That's not what you thought about Naomi."

Light remembered her. The bereaved FBI agent he had killed. "That was different. She was definitely had dangerous information, and she definitely wanted to take down Kira. This Regina…she is working only on personal motives, and doesn't know anything dangerous yet."

"Really? So, that's why you won't kill this woman. Interesting. I thought it had something to do with the way you turn red every time she smiles."

"I…do I do that? That's nothing. Shut up, now, Ryuk. We're here." Light adjusted his watch: this watch was one of his most important possessions. It contained a piece of the death note for him to use in an emergency. He also had a page of the death note folded inside his address book, in case he needed to pretend to be writing down notes while executing criminals.

Light arrived at the café and walked through the doors. 'Regina' was sitting at the table, her back straight, holding a book in front of her face. She did not turn her head, but her eyes watched him as he entered.

"Hello, Miss Regina." He said, smiling at her.

"Hello, Mr. Yagami… How is your sweetheart?"

"Out of the hospital. It was really little more than a sprain, but she got worked up over it."

"I see…. Well… I hope she recovers soon." Regina put the book down. "And how is that promotion going for you?"

"Well."

"I see…"

There was a moment of silence. Someone called out an order for an espresso, and Regina went over to pick it up. She sat back down at the table. "What are you smirking at, Mr. Yagami?"

"It's just that…you order the same thing every day. Why don't you try the frappuccino? That's very good…"

"No…I am afraid that it has too much sugar in it…I cannot eat sugar, Mr. Yagami….But how about you order something now?"

Light did. He got up and ordered black tea, and sat back down. "Miss Regina."

"Yes, Mr. Yagami?"

"How about you call me Light?"

"Yes…Light?"

"What are your thoughts about Kira?"

Regina narrowed her blue eyes, and then a mischevious look crossed her face, "What do I think about Kira? Well, that's a hot topic…these days…Why would you want to know? But of course…it is just a conversation topic… An intellectual one. Well then." Regina cleared her throat.

"Kira is a hopeless optimist." She said, a smirk forming on her lips, "I have a pet theory that he is very young, though older than you and I…most likely graduated from college. He comes from an upper middle class family that has sheltered him from the brutal realities of the world, and yet he was distressed by all the killing that he knew was going on around him in the world."

"Why do you think this about him? Why would he be young, male, and middle class?"

"Because, you see, there is an idealism that pervades Kira's thinking. He believes the world can be changed, and that he has a right and duty to change it. That kind of thinking is characteristic of college students. He would probably be male, because most women simply don't have it in them to kill people for an ideal. He would have to be middle class, because only people in such a comfortable state of life have time to care about the state the world is in. If he were poor, mistreated, and uneducated, he would not have time to bother about the welfare of others."

Light smiled to himself. This woman was sharp, and seemed sympathetic to Kira.

She continued, "But the real problem with Kira is that he cannot win."

He asked, "Why do you say that?"

Regina's eyes closed, wearily, "Well, first there are multiple problems. First, he has to rely on the media for information, and the media is incredibly unreliable. It may cause him to kill innocent people. Second, there are plenty of criminals whose names and faces are unknown. Third, he doesn't distinguish between degrees of punishment, he only kills. Would he kill someone for a lesser crime…such as embezzlement, for instance? But fourth…and this is most important…He will die. And all his work will die with him…and the world will…go back to how it was before." Her eyes opened and she had a sad look on her face, "No one can change the world. The world is rotten, and will continue to be just as it has always been."

Light thought to himself: this woman is wrong. She has been convinced of the world's evil, and has lost hope. She can be made to see, though, that a bright new world was taking shape.

He opened his mouth to argue, but then clamped it shut. He was a police officer. If he began to defend Kira, it would be uncharacteristic. Instead, he asked, "What do you think about L?"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, yes. That detective, L," she said, "pulled a clever little stunt on television. I was rather impressed by his logic...But I don't see how he can catch someone who kills without a single trace. How do you find proof to convict someone like that? It would be…very frustrating. By the way, I had actually only heard of L once before the whole Kira thing, because of some…case he had solved in L.A….but I had never known he was the world's greatest detective." Then she smiled, "Wouldn't it be funny if L…was Kira? And he pulled that television stunt just to tell the whole world about his plan to kill of criminals?"

Light sighed with relief. This woman obviously didn't know much. But she was a clever guesser, and he realized, with a slight chill, that she was partly right: now, Kira _was _L, since Light had taken over L's identity after killing him. He said, "L is definitely not Kira."

"I know it's…unlikely. But it is an amusing thought." She said, "What do you think about Kira?"

Light thought about how a police officer would respond. "As a police officer, it is part of my job to not condone what he is doing. But…"

"But?"

"Well, if we do not catch him, then he is God. If we do catch him, he is a psychopath."

Regina smirked and the hint of a laugh graced her cheeks, "Aptly put, ."

"Call me Light."

"Oh, I am sorry….I forgot."

Light wondered what his best plan of action was. Since this woman clearly didn't know much about L, his best plan of action was to make her give up hope for her plans to find Ryuzaki. That meant…telling her the truth.

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"I am afraid that I haven't been completely honest with you regarding Ryuzaki."

An eyebrow raised on her forehead, "Ohhhhh?"

"I want you to come with me. There is something I need to show you."

* * *

><p>Light took her to the graveyard. As they got closer to the grave he was searching for, he heard Ryuk chuckling. The shinigami must have realized Light's intention, and was content to hover around, unseen by Regina. He was thinking to himself that once she knew Ryuzaki was dead, that would be the end of her search. She would stop prying into the matter, and he would not have to worry about her discovering anything…not that he thought she would in the first place, but he couldn't help his uneasiness.<p>

She asked him, "Why are we at the graveyard?"

"Come here."

She walked after him, when suddenly she stooped on the ground, picking something up.

"Mr….I mean, Light. I think…"

"Right over here. Look at that grave.

Regina looked, and frowned, "It says 'unknown.'"

"It's Ryuzaki."

Her eyes flashed with surprised, and she flinched when he said that. She stiffened for a moment and then took a sharp breath. "No, that…is…impossible…"

"He was a detective, just like you thought, Regina. He died…" Light to think of the right words to describe the death of his nemesis, "He died trying to defend justice. He was…a hero."

Regina said, "Died? To defend justice?"

"Yes," Light felt the words coming to him, all the fake emotion, "I didn't want to tell you immediately because of how much personal emotion you seemed to have invested in finding him."

Regina was quiet.

"He died nobly. He died to defend his ideals, and to save lives. He was a brilliant man, despite his oddities, and I am truly honored to have known him."

Regina's eyes glittered; then she closed them, clenched her fist and ground her teeth. She was murmuring to herself, under her breath,.

"What's the matter, Regina?"

She burst out into wild laughter She turned to Light with a wild look in her eyes, "Do you know what you are, Light?"

"What?"

"A liar." She whirled away from him and walked back down the path.

"W-what?"

She stopped for a second as though she was going to respond to him, but staggered a little and kept walking. Light could see that she was getting light-headed. She was shaking, trembling with some barely controlled emotion. With each step, she wobbled a little more, until Light realized that she was definitely going to faint.

Ryuk cackled again, "It seems that you're right, Light-o. You didn't need to know this woman's name to get rid of her. It seems she's going to have a natural heart attack right now.

Light was sorry to see her broken like this, but it had to be this way. He felt a little triumph, knowing that she would not pose any possible threat in the future. He felt, though, that he ought to help her until she was more stable mentally, and so he approached her cautiously as she walked away. He tried to put a gentle hand on her shoulder, only for her to whirl around at him, flinging away his hand, and stare him in the face. Her blue eyes were as cold as ice.

"Do…not…follow…me…" she told him. Then she regained self-possession and said, "Oh, that's right. You dropped this notebook." She held out his address book.

Light's blood turned to ice water. It was the book with a scrap of the Death Note.

"I was about to tell you…I picked it up earlier…"

She hadn't touched the piece of the Death Note yet, thought Light.

"I was about to tell you before you…you…pointed out that grave…you abominable liar…Here, take your notebook." And with a delicate gesture, she flicked it casually onto the ground. Light lunged to catch it.

What happened next was an accident that could only have been orchestrated by fate: As the notebook flew to the ground, the stray piece of the Death Note flew out of its page and touched Regina lightly on the face. She eyes widened unnaturally and her head flung toward Ryuk with horror. Now that she had touched the Death Note, she saw the shinigami.

No, no, this can't be happening, thought Light, of all the terrible luck…

Regina began to hyperventilate. Ryuk realized what had happened and cackled out loud. The woman, after gasping multiple times, screamed pitifully. She clutched her chest with one hand and groped for something to support herself on with the other.

Light rushed to her side,but too late. She crashed on the pavement. Light picked her up; her eyes focused on him for second, then rolled into her head. She fainted.

**Thank you for the review. It did make my day. Please review again**

**Is it getting more interesting as it goes along?**

**Any suggestions?**

**P.S. I do not own Death Note. **


	5. Chapter 5: In the Hospital

Chapter 5:

Light Yagami held the unconscious Regina.

"What are you going to do now, Light?" Ryuk asked.

"Shut up, Ryuk!" he felt Regina's pulse. "That shock was the last thing she needed. She was already in a bad condition. I…got to take her back to the car. It…it seems that she hit her head hard on the pavement…"

Light scooped the woman up and began to carry her out of the graveyard. Ryuk was chuckling and saying, "This is getting interesting…are you sure you don't want to kill her, Light?"

"Ryuk, for the last time, I am not making the eye deal."

"I am not even talking about that. Just cover her face till she stops breathing."

Light stopped, and looked at the shinigami, "No. Murder that way is too messy. If I ever need to kill her I'll just get Misa to see her real name…"

Ryuk cackled at this.

"…quiet! I'll just get Misa to see her name and write it down. But I don't need to kill Regina. I told you, she's innocent and doesn't know anything. Kira does not kill innocent people just because they don't think he'll succeed."

"You're getting rather worked up, Light-o."

Light exited the graveyard and found his car. He noticed, nervously, that some people passing by the graveyard were noticing the trouble. To prevent anyone from being suspicious, he called out, "This woman has knocked her head against the pavement! She's out cold! Can anyone help?"

The bystanders watched uneasily, but finally a middle aged man stepped up and said, "Does she need a doctor?"

"I-I don't know…"

"We should call an ambulance, just to be sure. Here, I'll do it." The man pulled out his cell phone and began talking on the phone. Light's eyes rested on Regina's face, and he noticed that she was very pale, and that an expression of horror and despair seemed written on her features. He felt something stir inside him, something that made him sick…could it be guilt?

* * *

><p>"It shouldn't be too much of a problem. No concussion. A soon as she wakes up, she should be ready to go." The nurse paused. "This is going to seem strange, but I saw her just last week."<p>

Light blinked at the nurse's words. "What?"

"Yes. She was here a week ago. It feels strange, seeing her here again. Last time, she came in for a check-up."

"Why…why would she do that?"

"I don't know. She seemed perfectly healthy, except of course that she had clearly had a head injury before-"

Light groaned.

"-And wanted it checked on. However, there was something else that made me remember her."

"What was that?"

"I saw her using some of the staff computers, and I believe she downloaded all files under a certain name."

"Ryuzaki."

The nurse gasped, "You know! I couldn't catch her at the time, because I found no proof that anyone had been on the computer or and I decided to let it go because nothing was damaged…who is Ryuzaki, anyway?"

"…Someone she was looking for. I actually knew this person, and I just broke the news of his death to her. She fainted and hit her head on the pavement."

The nurse covered her mouth, "Tragic… was he her lover?"

Light decided to humor the nurse, "It seems so." He looked down at the hospital bed where Regina lay. She still seemed unnaturally pale, and her expression was still demonic. Her lips were moving.

"_Ryuzaki…" _she murmured. Her body tossed a little bit.

"Omigod." The nurse said, suddenly talking in breathless sentences, "So he must have come here to Japan and said he was going to come back but he didn't so she came looking for him and even stole from the hospital cuz she was so desperate to find him again but he was dead and when she found out…" there were tears in the nurse's eyes. She said, "I'm sorry. I'll leave now. Thank you for telling me that." And with that, the romantic nurse left.

Light moved to Regina's bedside. Her purse was right there. Light grabbed it and took out her wallet, looking for a photo I.D. "Why would you hide your name, Regina? Did L tell you to hide it when you came here?" he whispered to her.

"She can't answer right now, you know." Ryuk pointed out.

Light scowled and looked through the wallet. There was no form of id in it. He looked through the rest of the purse. Nothing. He put everything back.

"She doesn't have an I.D. on her. What is with this lady?" Ryuk cackled.

Regina tossed a little again, "…help….." a painful expression was on her face, "…stop…them…..please…."

"Regina?"

"Ryuzaki…..where….are…..?"

"He's dead, Regina."

In a firm voice, "No…"

"Yes, Regina."

Then, more pitifully, "…no…he…can't…be…"

"He…lied…to me….Light Yagami…he…"

Ryuk cackled, "This lady doesn't seem to give up."

At hearing Ryuk voice, Regina's pitiful whining dropped an octave, "Satan," she hissed.

Light didn't want to leave her. He wanted to make sure that he was there when she woke up. He wanted to…comfort her? He wasn't sure. But he couldn't leave her, not in this condition. She would walk out of the hospital, dizzy and depressed, completely alone, her goal in life presumably crushed, and with no way to get home. He had to help her. Kira wasn't just about punishing the evil, it was about protecting the weak.

"I'll stay here, Regina, until you wake up." he told her. He looked at her face, and noticed that when she wasn't staring with that blank expression, she looked like a child.

"…please…make them stop…." She was groaning in a tortured voice again.

"Make who stop what Regina?"

She was silent. Then suddenly she moaned, "…the bells…"

* * *

><p>Perhaps an hour later, Light Yagami heard a ring come from Regina's purse. He opened her bag and found a cell phone. He flipped it on.<p>

"Why haven't you called me?" a young, angry voice told him, "You said you would call immediately after your date with the Yagami kid. What's your problem? Are you sleeping with him or something? I got a lead."

"Who is this?"

Complete silence on the other end.

"The owner of this phone is currently in the hospital. She fell and hit her head on the pavement, causing her to lose consciousness."

"Oh no. Where…What is the address of the hospital?"

Light gave the woman the address. She immediately hung up

* * *

><p>Within twenty minutes, the woman came storming into the room. She was young, about Light's age, but with a stern expression. She was wearing typical teenager attire, a little bit masculine: jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and hiking books. She looked at bedridden Regina and shook her head. "I can't believe this happened."<p>

"I am sure it must be a tragedy."

"Only to her." The young woman said cynically.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. Call me Linda." The young girl tossed her hair behind her head.

"And what relation…?"

"I'm not related to her. Nobody in the world is related to that woman there." Linda looked at Light's aghast expression, "I seem harsh to you. Well, that's understandable. Let me explain: I don't actually know the lady. Granted, I feel that she's a damn smart person, though no genius, and a pretty strong personality. I have more respect for her than for most. But I don't know her. And nobody knows her. She's like some sort of spirit that materialized out of thin air to bring up uncomfortable questions that I didn't want to deal with at the time. That nobody wants to deal with. And she clings to her…mission…like a metal claw." Linda smirked.

"So how do you know her?" asked Light.

"I don't. That's what I'm telling you."

"But you must have some reason for calling her."

"I…work for her, okay? Part time."

Light realized that this was probably the private detective that Regina had told him about. That would explain why this 'Linda' said she had a lead… He asked her, "What's her name? She doesn't have an I.D."

Linda looked at him shrewdly, with narrowed eyes, then smiled and threw up her hands easily, "Can't say. I make it a policy to never know the names of the people I work for."

"What? What kind of work are you…?"

"Private detective. When she wakes up, tell her that I have something important to say to her about our business. She knows how to contact me."

Linda turned around and put her hand on the door handle, swung the door open, and walked casually out.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading. Please review. If you have reviewed a previous chapter, thank you. Please review again. <strong>

**I want to know what you have to say about the story so far, ****especially ****if it's something negative and critical.**

**I am still messing around with the format of this story a little bit, especially how to handle transitions in which a significant amount of time passes. I may go back and edit previous chapters**


	6. Chapter 6: In the Hospital, continued

Chapter 6:

Regina had stopped talking in her sleep and her face was clear of the tortured expression earlier. Light had stayed for four hours, during which Ryuk had gotten bored and said that he would return when things "got interesting." In the hospital, Light had been thinking and re-thinking everything he knew about Regina to see what he could deduce about her.

First: She had some sort of personal goal that she was pursuing.

Second: She had suffered a head injury in the past

Third: She had been in contact with L three years ago

Fourth: She did not know he was the detective L, but only knew him as 'Ryuzaki.'

Fifth: Ryuzaki had some sort of information that she wanted

Sixth: She may or may not have known him personally. The way she was calling out for him in her sleep, and her reaction to his death seemed to indicate a personal connection.

Seventh: Ryuzaki dropped some sort of hint for her to come to Japan.

Eighth: She was using a false name, and hadn't even told her name to her private detective, Linda.

Ninth: It seemed that she had little or no family and friends, according to Linda.

Tenth: She seemed determined to find Ryuzaki, even to the point of stealing information from the hospital.

Light was interrupted from his train of thought by a ring on his cellphone. He picked it up.

"Light-ooooooo? Why haven't you come over? You said you would come meet Misa-Misa today, and you haven't come…."

Light already felt a headache coming on, "Well…um, Misa…" God, he hated her voice. He could compare her voice to a dying bird, or a creaking swingset, but neither comparison would really do justice to its annoying quality. He thought, briefly, that it was the polar opposite of Regina's low, mezzo range. He thought, also, of that smooth, mocking tone she had when she had on that smile of hers. That smile. It would be too cliché to compare it to Mona Lisa, but…

Dammit. He had completely zoned out while Misa was whining at him on the phone. He refocused and listened to the rant, "And Misa-Misa has just gotten out of the hospital and you haven't been paying attention and you are horrible to her, and-"

"Misa! Shut up! I am at the hospital."

Misa gasped, "Did my Light-o hurt himself? Did he-"

"No, Misa. A woman fainted and hit her head on the pavement. She has no way to get home, so I decided to wait here until I knew she was okay, and then—Misa? Misa? Are you there?" Light cussed to himself. Misa had heard the word 'woman' and had hung up. If he knew her well enough, she was trouncing over there right now, ready to murder anyone who got in the way. In fact, there was a 99% chance…

He stopped himself. Percentages. They had gotten stuck in his brain when he had to listen to L 24 hours a day. Now he was even thinking like that guy. Would L just get out of his brain?

At any rate, Light's prediction was correct. Soon, Misa charged in the door with murder in her eyes.

"LIGHT-O!" She screamed.

"Misa," he said in a calm voice, despite his growing headache, "You're overreacting."

"Why is my Light-o with another woman?" she demanded.

"I told you. She fainted, and-"

"Why didn't Light just leave her at the hospital? Why didn't he-"

"Misa," Light said, "Shut up." Though his voice was calm, and he hadn't raised the volume more than his average speaking volume, Misa got the threat in his voice and was quiet. Light said, "Thank you. Now, let me explain calmly. This woman fainted, and crashed on the sidewalk. I was by her at the time, and so I felt it was my responsibility to get her to safety. She doesn't have an I.D. on her, and she has no car, so she has no way of getting home. I decided to stay until she wakes up because otherwise she'll leave the hospital confused and hurt, and with no way of getting back. I'll simply want to drive her back to where she lives after she wakes up."

During Light's talk, Misa had turned her eyes on Regina and was shrewdly sizing up what she assumed was competition. Misa asked, "How do you know she couldn't get home?"

Light sighed, "Alright, I was talking to her before she-"

"You were talking to her? Why were you talking to her?" Misa asked bitterly.

"I was just talking, and…"

Misa spat, "The other woman is too beautiful for Light-o to have been 'just talking.'"

"Misa, what are you saying? Though, yeah, I guess she is very beautiful."

"LIGHT-OOO! I'LL KILL HER!" She was obviously hurt: there were tears in her eyes and her lip was trembling.

Light realized she was not kidding. She had said before that she would kill any woman that he went out with, and he knew she was capable of killing the innocent: She had killed innocent people just to get to him and to pull a huge publicity stunt. Normally he could control her, but he wasn't so sure. He felt a wave of revulsion and disgust at this shallow, murdering bitch, but he calmed himself down. "Okay, Misa. Be quiet and I'll tell you the whole story."

Misa nodded, her eyes still a little teary. Light pulled her close to him, his hands tenderly on her shoulders, and began whispering in her ear. A smirk came to his face: this gesture of 'affection' would serve two purposes. It would cause Misa to trust him more, and it would ensure no one could overhear what he was about to say.

"Misa…you know how much I love you. Only you. I met this woman a week ago, and I have been seeing her every day." Misa flinched. "But not for the reason you think. You see, she knows something about Ryuzaki. Yes, Misa. L. I have been trying to figure out this week how much she knows. I found out that she knows nothing really; she's not a threat. But she was trying to find out more."

Misa was nodding, accepting what he told her. "Now, I decided to put an end to her investigation. I took her to the graveyard and told her that Ryuzaki was dead. That's when she fainted. However, she accidentally touched a piece of the notebook. Now, she can see Ryuk. I need to watch her carefully now."

"I understand," she sighed, relieved.

He whispered again, "Now, leave, and text me this woman's name."

"Does Light-o want Misa to kill her?"

"Shhhh! No, no. Just give me her name." Light smiled and said out loud, "Do you understand, Misa?"

"Yes, Light-o. Misa understands: her Light-o is just being generous and good. To everyone."

"Alright. Now, go home."

"Goodbye, Light-o." She took one last look at Regina, then shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, Light-o? There's something…"

"Tell me later, Misa." He said. Misa nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and skipped out the door. Light sighed and hoped his headache would fade now that she was gone. He massaged his forehead a little bit.

* * *

><p>"You had…that face on…again, "came Regina's slow voice.<p>

Light jumped and looked at Regina. Her eyes were still closed. No, they were barely open.

"Was that…your girlfriend?"

"Regina, were you listening to that entire conversation?"

"Yeeeeesssss….how could I not wake up when she came barging in like that? But…she seems like a sweet girl….even if she did threaten to kill me….poor thing." Regina was smirking

"Why don't you open your eyes, Regina?" asked Light.

"I was too amused watching this way while you both thought I was asleep. You treat your girlfriend coldly, and you had that look on your face again. You really are a liar." She said.

"I have to be stern with her. She doesn't get it otherwise. I am not a liar. Why would you say that?"

"You are an enormous liar. You are probably…the worst liar I have ever met."

"Regina, open your eyes." Regina obeyed. She sat up in bed and blinked her eyes open. Light continued, "I wasn't lying, Regina. Ryuzaki is dead."

Regina stared at him with an unfathomable look, then asked, "What happened in the graveyard? I don't quite….remember." her voice was weak and hollow.

"I showed you Ryuzaki's grave."

"And?"

Light wondered what to tell her, "And you fainted, hitting your head on the pavement."

Regina was still staring at him. She sighed and said, "I…somewhat…remember that….And there was your….address book…and…" but she cut herself off.

Light realized that she was about to mention Ryuk, but had decided that that would be a bad idea. This must mean that she has decided he is imaginary, he thought. He asked her, "Regina, how did you know Ryuzaki, exactly?"

She looked down.

"You didn't react to it like someone who had just met him once."

Regina was silent, still looking down.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"I met him three years ago at a restaurant and he told me to come here."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there Regina?"

She was silent again.

"And what was the question you were always talking about, the one that has been driving your life?"

Regina said nothing.

"Regina…" Light wondered what his best plan of action would be. He decided to go gentle with her, "You need to trust someone. I get the feeling that you live your life closed off from other people."

Regina turned up her eyes and stared him down, coldly, "Why should I trust you? You're a liar."

"Do you not believe that Ryuzaki died?"

Regina was quiet. Then, standing up, she said, "Well….I had better be going…I suppose I should talk to the nurse or something about my bill…."

"Regina, what are the bells?"

Regina froze. Then her head whipped around at him. Her voice was breathy, ghostlike;she asked, "H-how do you know ab-about the bells? Have you…heard them?"

"You mentioned them in your sleep."

"So…you don't know." She clamped her lips shut.

"Regina-?"

"Did Linda call?" she asked sharply, cutting him off.

"Yes."

"I had better call her back soon."

"She actually came."

Regina looked at him, "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know."

Regina thought. Then, standing up, she said, "Perhaps she wanted to corroborate herself that I was unable to respond… I suppose you answered my phone?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, she probably wanted to make sure what you told her was the truth… Also to get the satisfaction of seeing me helpless."

"Why did you pick her as a private detective?"

"Hmm? She is an intelligent girl, and she understands my mission because she is also an…but that is not for you to know…Why did you stay here?"

"Huh?"

"You have been sitting in my hospital room…waiting for me to wake up…"

"Yes. I wanted to offer you a ride home since you don't have a car."

Regina was straightening out her white hospital robe. Her posture was still absolutely correct; she hadn't lost an ounce of her dignity despite her near breakdown in the graveyard.

"Very well…but I could have…ordered a taxi…" She suddenly stopped talking and paled dramatically.

"What's wrong Regina?" he asked. It was no use. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking behind him. Light whipped around and saw Ryuk standing in the door.

Ryuk let out a raspy, delighted laugh. "Well, it seems things can get interesting again. Should I call you Regina?" he asked. "Though, I suppose I could call you anything and it would be just as legitimate. We shinigami have a name for humans like you, but I think Regina will do nicely. Don't you think?"

**Thank you for reading. Please review this story, especially if you have something negative to say.**


	7. Chapter 7: Breakdown in the Hospital

Chapter 7:

"Light, are you... certain that you don't see... that?" Regina asked slowly and firmly, but with growing fear in her voice.

Light clenched his teeth, wondering how to respond. He wanted to order Ryuk out of the room (what was the damn Shinigami thinking, barging in like that?) but that would reveal that Ryuk existed and was not a product of Regina's imagination. He decided that the best way to deal with the situation was to convince Regina that it was all a hallucination. With that in mind, he put on a concerned face and said, "See what, Regina?"

"That…you don't see it."

"Oh, he sees me alright, but he won't admit it."Ryuk said. Light wanted to glare at the shinigami, but realized that would give away the truth.

"Who…" Regina started, but clamped her mouth and turned her head away. Her face lost the frightened expression and became stony and blank. Light saw her chest expanding heavily though, and realized she was only trying to hide her fear. She slowly asked, "Where…is…my…purse?"

Light handed it to her, and watched her carefully. She wasn't looking him in the eyes.

"Regina, what's wrong?"

She said nothing, but took her purse and walked toward the entrance where Ryuk was standing. She looked at him and took a deep breath. Then she walked forward and ran directly into him. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"What, Regina? Did you think that I am not real? I suppose you thought that you can walk straight through me. Well, sometimes you can, but not if I decide you can't. I can touch anything I want to, Regina." As if to prove his point, Ryuk reach out one of his hands to her.

"No, NO!" Regina screamed and fell backwards. She scrambled away from him and looked wildly toward Light, "Are you...sure you can't see it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Regina, what are you seeing? Let me…help…" but as he reached for her, she leapt up on her own with surprising agility.

Light lost track of what happened after that. Regina ran, trying to get away from Ryuk, who followed her cackling around. In the process, she ran into every object in the hospital room, tearing the place apart. Light found his head darting back and forth to her, then Ryuk, trying to think of some way to calm the situation down. Ryuk seemed determined to trap her in the room and drive her insane. Every time she almost made it to the door, he appeared in front of it.

There was dialogue, too, as the charade went on. Thought, he couldn't remember which words went with which actions.

"Satan!" she whispered out of breath.

"Regina, what are you-" Light tried, but he was cut off by Ryuk.

"Regina, nice name to go by," Ryuk cackled.

"Back! Away!"

"Regina, try to be a little calmer. Even Light here didn't react as badly as you are when you first saw me."

"…Help…not again…"Regina whimpered.

"But that's right, you've seen me before, Regina."

Regina gasped at this point and clutched her heart, if Light remembered correctly.

"That's why you're so afraid of Shinigami. I'm trying to remember…"

But as Ryuk was saying this, some hospital staff came in and restrained Regina. She gasped pathetically for a while, and then she went limp in their grips. Not fainted, but overwhelmed. She stayed like this a few minutes.

"It's... all right... now." She said, "I'm fine."

The hotel employees didn't look so sure.

"I just…reacted…poorly…since this person…Mr. Yagami….informed me of a certain person's death."

"That's right." Light told them.

Reluctantly, the staff let her go and she straightened out her posture, turned her face into expressionless stone, and walked out of the room with complete calm and dignity, giving Ryuk and Light one last calculating look.

* * *

><p>Light spoke to Ryuk later, when they were in the privacy of his own car.<p>

"Dammit, Ryuk! Why did you have to do that?"

Ryuk cackled, "It was interesting."

"Interesting be damned! You caused her to tear up the entire hospital room. What did you mean you had met her before? And why'd you have to chase after her like that? Do you want to drive her crazy?"

Ryuk only cackled, "Well, what will you do now, Light?"

Light thought his fist clenched, "I will convince her that you do not exist, that it was all a hallucination. After she's calmed down, it shouldn't be too hard. Then…" but he stopped as he suddenly realized, "Misa has probably texted Regina's real name to me by now."

"So you want to kill her?"

"That is hardly necessary, but… At any rate let me just see what her name is…" Light had indeed received a text from Misa. He looked at it and frowned.

_Srry. cnt see her name_

What?

Ryuk cackled again. Light's eyes widened with disbelief.

"Misa couldn't see her name?" He ground his teeth, "That's impossible! Ryuk, what do you know about this?"

"Well, Misa couldn't see her name," Ryuk was clutching his sides with laughter.

"Like HELL she didn't!" Light exploded, slamming his fist against the car wheel. Realizing he had lost it, he recovered his composure and asked, with a wrathful edge to his voice, "What haven't you told me, Ryuk? Are some people immune to the Shinigami eyes?"

"No, no one is immune. Ask Misa if she saw the girl's lifespan."

Light did so, and got a text back. Yes, Misa-Misa had seen her lifespan, but didn't know how to interpret the shinigami numbers.

"Then why not her name?"

Ryuk said, "Perhaps you should find out from the girl."

"Tell me yourself."

"I am not on your side. I think it will be more interesting to see you investigate this for yourself. You might also find out about her meeting me."

"Do you actually think she would tell me, after trying so hard to hide her identity?"

He cackled, "I'll show you where she lives. I think she'll open up to you."

Light sighed, "All right, lead the way." Light turned on the car, and followed Ryuk when the shinigami ghosted out of the car and led him through the streets. It suddenly occurred to him that the shinigami must have been following her before if he knew where she lived. What was it about Regina that he found so interesting anyway? Whatever, he decided to ask him later.

They arrived at a cheap apartment complex. Ryuk showed him to one of the apartments.

"You stay outside. I don't want you to freak her out more."

"Alright, Light-o." Ryuk said.

With that, Light knocked on the door. "Regina? Regina?"

He heard some stirring behind the door. Then, her voice, muffled behind the walls: "Light?"

"Yes, Regina, it's me."

"Damn you... How do you know... where I live?"

"I followed you…after the thing in the hospital."

"I see."

"Can I come in?"

There was a long silence.

"I am only worried about you, Regina. I want to help you…as a friend."

"Friend?" her tone was sharp, and she laughed. A cruel, despairing laugh like the one she had let out at the graveyard. Then, with venom dripping from every word, she said, "Then…come in…friend…" He heard the sound of the door unlocking: a slight click. Light opened the door and walked in.

Regina had changed out of her hospital gown into a knee-length skirt and a blouse, and was barefoot. Her red hair was let down, and he noticed for the first time that there were black roots growing in. Her back was turned to him.

"Hold... on." She said, "I need to put my contact lenses in." She did so, and then turned around to look at him. He suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. There was something about her appearance now…No, not just now, it was there from the moment he met her but it was more noticeable now that she was distraught….whatever it was it made him turn cold when he saw her. It took away any ease he could have when he was with her, and it made it impossible for for him to forget her.

But it could not be love that he felt when he saw her, he decided. Love couldn't feel so cold.

"So…what are you... here for… Light Yagami?" she asked, her voice droning on in a low monotone.

"To see if you are okay."

"Weellllllll, I am. Thank you…for coming….even just for that…." Regina said, her voice edged with sarcasm.

The apartment was clean, but had no decent furnishing, no pictures. Just tons of shelves with books and…tapes? It was dreary and depressing. He decided that she might like to go out. "Would you like to go to someplace nicer? I know a great ice-cream place."

"One: you just implied that... my apartment is dreary. Two: you know that I... refuse to have any... sugar. We'll have our discussion…in here."

"I didn't mean to insult your place."

"It's fine. I have only... begun to live here... recently. My real house is much...much... nicer; this is more of a…workplace?"

"Regina, what do you think you saw at the hospital."

Regina's lip trembled.

Light realized that he had to move carefully. If he convinced "Is that the first time you experienced hallucinations?"

"I-"

He saw from the look in her face that she had. But she wasn't quite sure, or perhaps she wasn't sure if the hallucinations were real.

"Did your hallucinations have anything to do with Ryuzaki?" Light asked her. He saw her eyes turn stony.

"I refuse... to talk about my mental state or... what happened in the hospital... right now."

"But…"

"Sit down."

Light obeyed, and Regina sat down as well.

"I suppose you... are going to start... interrogating... me now, police officer," she said, "And I don't know why... you are so... interested: that's what bothers me. Why do you want to know about... me? Or not even me…you seem to want to know... about Ryuzaki, or what I know... about him."

"I…" Light stopped himself, "I was going to ask about that, but it's not like I am disinterested in you."

"Nonsense." She said, "Are you trying to... flatter me? Me? I can tell by the... expression on your face... that you are lying through your teeth about that. You have an expression on your... face... that likens you to every manipulative... bastard I have met in my life. How about this: in order to get the answers to... your questions... you have to answer... mine. Deal?"

"Okay, then. Though I am not trying to manipulate you, Regina."

"Ask your questions. I tire of this... polite charade."

"If you insist. How did you know Ryuzaki?"

"How did... _you_... know Ryuzaki?"

Light thought about this. "You answer first," he said.

"No, _you_ answer first."

Light sighed, defeated. He would just tell some aspect of the truth. "Well…he said I was his first friend."

The mask on Regina's facial features dropped, leaving nothing but stunned disbelief in her eyes. Then she put her hand to her mouth and giggled, "Did he really say that? Him? I can tell you're not making that up, but…" she giggled, "He… that monster…called you a friend? The same... Ryuzaki I know?" She dropped her face on the table and contorted with laughter.

"What's so funny about it?"

"Nothing!" she giggled more, but then her face became serious again. "But in all sincerity, if he called you... his friend, it was probably his way of... mocking friendship in general. Let me guess... you had introduced yourselves, had at least one high-level... conversation, and had played... tennis with each other."

Light twitched, "Yes. By that time, we had done all that. How do you know?"

"Well, I got into a discussion about... friendship and I told him he would not be... such a monster if he actually had friends. But then he had... challenged me philosophically as to what friends really were... and if... true friends existed. And I lost, because he could argue...quite well. At any rate... I said to him 'Well, a friend is someone that... you've at least been introduced to, can have at least one... decent conversation with, and have played at least... one tennis match with.'" Regina's lips smiled, "And I said that he should... at least go that far in making friends. He said that if that's all friends were, then he could live... without them."

Light said, "I had always wondered why he said that."

"Well, now you know. He was fond of... making jokes that nobody knew... were jokes. I remember that he said that all it takes was 'intuition' to pilot a helicopter. I told him, no, it... obviously... doesn't and he just looked at me blankly and said it was supposed to be a... joke."

There was a long pause. "So how did you know him?"

Regina smiled a Mona-Lisa smile at him, "But haven't you been able to... deduce how I knew him from all of those little... anecdotes I gave you?"

"You…" Light sighed, "Maybe I could, but I would rather not bother right now. Just tell me."

"Well, I am not sure... how to respond. I wasn't a friend... I wasn't an enemy. I wasn't... a lover. I didn't grow up with him. It wasn't a business relationship."

"Well?"

"I suppose that you could summarize the relationship with this: I met him five times... The first was when I... tracked him down to try to get information out of him. It... was information significant to the quest I have been... pursuing. The second time was... after I was kidnapped... for making contact with him. Apparently he had... ticked off some sort of... mafia group, and when they saw that I... talked to him, they thought I was a friend... or lover... that they could use as a... bargaining chip. Obviously, Ryuzaki wasn't the type to bargain with them... not for me, but instead he allowed me to... rot for a while and then he found their... headquarters and had them arrested. The third and fourth time... were times when I confronted him... again about the question, but they both turned into... cordial visits. The last time was in the restaurant I was telling you about, and he pretty much... offered to answer my questions as... repayment for all the things that had... happened to me on his account. That was when he hinted I come here."

"And the only reason he didn't keep his promise was that he died." Light said.

"But those are just the facts. The main... aspect of our relationship is that he has... the answer to the question that I have been asking for a while, and that I... will... get... that... answer. So, because of that, he... became something of a... fixation for me. And, strangely, in the time I spent with him... I got to know him... very well."

"I thought that you might be a friend, because you were calling out his name in the hospital."

"Was I?" Her lips smiled. "I suppose... that I would. You see, I can't really... think that Ryuzaki would die without leaving me some kid of... clue, or some... explanation. He promised that he would explain everything, or send someone... to explain everything."

"But even he couldn't prepare for his own death…"

"It doesn't... matter. I trust there is something…some clue…I just…" Her face wrenched with some mixed emotion. "There has to... be something," she said.

There was another long silence, and then Light said, "Okay, then I have another question."

"What's that?"

"What is this personal quest, this driving question that you have been talking about since I met you?"

**Thank you for reading. Please review this fanfiction, and give me any feedback, encouragement, criticism, insults, or suggestions that you have.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.**

**MadnessistheMurderer pointed out that Regina's characteristic of drawing out her speech disappeared, and so I have edited it back in. Sorry.**


	8. Chapter 8: Conversation with an Unknown

Chapter 8:

"Tell me the reason you have come here looking for Ryuzaki."

Regina looked down. "Yes…you have asked that…before…" she said. "Well, I was probably... going to tell you anyway..."

There was a long pause. Light became aware of the hum of the refrigerator somewhere in the background.

Regina then began to speak, but not in Japanese. She muttered to herself in a European language, probably the same one she had used in the graveyard and for a moment when he first met her.

"What did you just say?"

"Sorry, I…I was just wondering…where I should begin…" Her eyes were unfocused and sorrowful. "Well…Light….I was an orphan…and…." She clenched her mouth shut for a while. Then, she focused her eyes on him, and said in a monotone, "I think that it is... better that you…hear for yourself."

She got up and walked over to the living room in the apartment, and room with one sofa, a desk, and three shelves. She went to one of the shelves and pulled out a yellow envelope. She opened and pulled out an old cassette tape, one that was obviously a decade old, maybe even older. She took a cassette player off the top shelf.

"Very low tech, right…Light? How long has it been... since people used these? Well…no matter…I used them when I was seven... years old. Can... you... understand English? Are you fluent?"

"Yes, for the most part."

"Good. It's the world... business language, but still... I just had to make sure…"

She walked over, put the items on the table, and placed the cassette inside the player. Her eyes then wandered to the wall. The recording began, a little scratchy, but that was understandable:

* * *

><p><em>A child's voice, in British English: "Testing…one…two…three…Hey, it works!"<em>

_Another voice, just as young as the first, but slightly different: "All right. It works."_

_The first voice: "Well, let's say stuff to it."_

_The second voice: "What can we say to it?"_

_First voice: "Dunno…but we can use it like a diary, or a journal. So we don't forget stuff."_

_Second voice: "Well…There isn't much. The orphanage is really boring right now. Ms. Smith is still ugly…"_

_The first voice giggled._

"…_And Roger is still a big bully…But he is not so much of a bully now , 'cuz I had him locked in the closet."_

"_You did what?"_

"_Well…He was beating me up again, trying to make me give up all my candy, and so I told him that I kept it all in this closet, so he went to look in the closet, but I closed the door and locked it."_

_The first voice giggled, "Is he still in there?"_

"_No. Ms. Smith has probably heard him banging by now." The second voice laughed._

"_Forty percent chance?" asked the first voice._

"_More like sixty."_

"_Well, he deserves that. Since he's been hitting you."_

_The second voice said, mumbling, "Yeah…just to get my candy or when I beat him at chess."_

"_He should really stop playing if he's such a sore loser."_

"_He's too proud. He has hummus...huburs…hubris is what the books would call it," The second voice said, childishly trying to pull off intellectual vocabulary. Then, the same voice said, "Let's go have some cake."_

"_But we already ate some."_

"_Yeah, but I want more."_

"_Okay, fine. Just…wait, do you hear that?"_

_There was the sound of some creaking on the tape. The childish voices said, overlapping each other_

"_It's Ms. Smith…"_

"…_and some guy in the hall…"_

"_I know!" said the first voice, "Let's hide the recording, so that we can play back to her so that she can hear how ugly her voice is."_

"_Yeah! Great idea! But where to hide it?"_

"_I know. I'll just put it right here."_

"_Underneath the bed?"_

"_But I'll put a pillow over it!"_

_The second voice said, "But then it won't be able to record."_

"_Fine, but shhhhhhhh! They're coming."_

_The children quieted, and there was the sound of a door opening. Someone took loud, creaky steps and stopped. Then, a nasally woman voice's was heard, "Linton?"_

"_Yes, ma'am?" a dejected child's voice, but Light couldn't tell if it was the first child's voice or the second._

"_This nice man here would like to talk to you. It's about your score on the tests you took last week."_

"_Yes, ma'am," The same voice, presumably Linton, said._

"_I'll go too-"_

"_No. The man wants to speak to Linton alone. Besides, I would like to have a word with __**you **__in private."_

_There were more footsteps, and the sound of a door shutting._

"_Now, Sarah…is that your name?"_

"_No." said the voice of the child who was left in the room._

"_Well then, at any rate, I would like to tell you that Linton is going to be transferred."_

"_Trans-what?"_

"_He is very…different, and this institution cannot tend to his needs any longer."_

"_What? Different?"_

"_Yes…He is going to another orphanage, an orphanage that can take care of them better than we can."_

_There was a long pause. Then, the young girl's voice asked, softly, "He's going away?"_

"_Yes."_

_Another pause. "You're sending him away because he's different?"_

"_Don't get angry, Sarah-"_

"_It's not true! What Robin said…He's not auti…auti…autistic!"_

"_Now…"_

"_You just want to get rid of him! You hate him! You've always hated him!"_

"_Sarah-"_

"_Are you going to put him in prison?" she asked._

"_Prison, child? Whatever gave you that idea?"_

"_Where they lock up different people."_

"_Of course not. He is just going to be put in another orphanage more suited to his…peculiarities."_

"_Then let me go with him."_

"_What?"_

"_LET ME GO WITH HIM!"_

"_Stop this dramatic nonsense, child."_

"_You can't take him away from me! He's my brother!"_

"_I know it feels like that now, but friends get over each other very quickly at this age."_

"_HE'S MY BROTHER! MY REAL BROTHER!"_

"_You are not suited to the sort of place Linton is going. You have adjusted very well here. Linton is the one who has had trouble adjusting. Not talking to anyone, playing mean tricks on the other children, spending all that time in his room…"_

"_You can't…" but the girl's speech was interrupting by a hiccupping sob. She burst into audible sobbing._

* * *

><p>And Regina shut off the tape. Her face was completely blank, emotionless. Light couldn't sense any sign of distress on her features.<p>

"You were the girl on the tape?"

"Yeeeeesssssssss."

Light paused, "Why did you allow me to listen to that?"

"To test myself. At first, I wouldn't touch this... thing. Then I got wiser. I decided that... I had to be strong. So I listened to it... over and over... to make sure that I wouldn't cry every time I... heard it. And I have had people listen... to it with me. That always... hurts more, because of the humiliation... You look horrified. Do you think I am… sadistic?"

Light had no answer.

"Well, now you know. My personal quest is to find... my brother. I actually had two... brothers, but the younger one is almost... definitely dead... by now. He was separated from us before we... went... to the orphanage. My older brother... was the one I was in the orphanage with, until they... took him away. You see, it turns out they didn't actually know... that we were brother and sister, because of the... unusual circumstances that we entered."

"Your brother was Linton?"

"His name wasn't... actually Linton. Ms. Smith got... everybody's name wrong and continued... to call people by her pet names."

"Oh."

"Now you have to answer... my question." Regina said, and then she turned her eyes keenly on him. "What... connection did Ryuzaki have to Kira?"

Light thought he would have a heart attack. He grabbed the edge of the table involuntarily, and steadied himself, "What would make you think he had some connection to Kira?"

Regina smiled ever so slightly, "Your reaction... to that question has confirmed it... 100%. People's body language and facial expressions have always been... a pet study of mine."

"Explain that further."

"I have already answered so many... questions of yours, and you are still... trying to dodge mine. I am sickened by your... little stalling games. Tell me how he was connected to Kira."

"I-" Light paused, wondering if he should tell the truth and, if so, how much truth. Had he already told her that Ryuzaki was a detective? Then it would be logical… "He was a detective working on the Kira case."

"Really? Then did... Kira kill him?"

"Yes."

Regina laughed mirthlessly again, "So you weren't... completely lying when you... fed me that crap in the graveyard about him dying for... justice. Still, Ryuzaki... dying for justice... goes against all my... conceptions of his personality. Well, I suppose that he didn't mean... to be martyred, in the sappy way you put it... in the graveyard. Hmm, killed by Kira…." Regina was mulling it over.

"How did you come to suspect that Ryuzaki was connected to the Kira investigation?"

"Well…I have been seeing you for a week…during that time, we talked about everything... except for what was important. Small talk. Pleasant... conversation. You would start conversations about…movies. But I could tell that... your mind wasn't really on it. For example, when I made a response you would... break eye contact and not really listen... to my response. There were only a few times when you... looked at me very hard, watching my... every rection: when you asked about Ryuzaki, or that one time when you asked about... Kira. I didn't realize it at first, but it hung around in my head... for a long time. I realized that... _that _conversation was important to you. After mulling it over, I figured... I would make a bold statement that implied... Ryuzaki was connected to Kira, and see how you... reacted."

"Then…"

"No, you just asked... your question. Now it's... my turn. Were you working on the... Kira... investigation alongside... Ryuzaki?"

"…yes…"

"Why was a... college freshman working on something as... important... as the Kira case?"

"Isn't it your turn to answer a question?"

"No, because I... answered several of yours, including... whether I was the girl on the tape."

"Come on! Does that really count?"

"That's another question... right there. Yes it does. Now... answer two questions of mine. What was a... college freshman working on the Kira case for?"

"I am a police officer as well."

"I don't see why... the NPA would accept a... college student. And... if they did... why would they let him work on... something as important as the Kira investigation?"

"Because my father is Chief of the police force, and head of the Kira investigation."

"I thought... L was the head of the... investigation," Regina said.

"Second to L, of course."

"I see... It still doesn't seem... completely clear in my mind…"

There was another pause, but this time Light couldn't hear the hum of the refrigerator over his own thinking. He rehearsed what he knew thoroughly, trying to figure out how this woman worked. Her intuition seemed to lead her well, though her assumptions weren't always completely backed up with logic and evidence. She seemed to get annoyed when he was courteous and a little long-winded, so he decided to be bold and cut to the chase with her.

"'Regina Doman' is not your real name, is it?" he asked.

The woman he had called 'Regina' turned dead, blank eyes onto him. There was another beat of silence. "I am tempted... to ask whatever gave you the impression that I had a... false name, but no matter. It doesn't... matter... how you figured it out. All that matters is that... you know now. I'll answer your question. No, 'Regina Doman' is not my real name."

"What is?"

"No, now... my question is next."

"What? But asking whether or not it was your real name was more of a rhetorical question."

"Doesn't... matter. Now tell me, why... won't... you... leave me alone?"

"What?"

"Why... have you seen me frequently in the past... week, stayed with me in the hospital, and... followed me after I... hallucinated?"

"Because…..it was the right thing to do," Light said, staring at her directly in the eyes. He saw her brow raise up, creasing her forehead. Her expression was ambiguous. Was it doubtful? Was she going to criticize him for being a liar again? Was she going to demand an actual answer? He decided that he would keep up the act. "Because I care about you as a human being, as a friend."

Her hand slackened (Had it been clenched before?) Light then realized: it wasn't doubt on her face. It was belief. She bought it, his act. She was now staring in his face with the amazement someone has when they hear something that they never could believe was true, but is.

"You…" she began, but her face then turned cold and she looked away from him. "Liar," She said, "That can't be... more than half-true…"

Her normal awareness of his 'lying' as she called it had slipped for a moment. Why?

Perhaps he had lied better than he ever had before. Perhaps he had felt enough interest in this woman to summon up the feeling of concern for her. He had enjoyed his time with her. No, that couldn't be it. Light knew that was not true. Perhaps she wanted to believe it a little too much.

"Now what is your real name?" He asked, realizing that she had softened up a little bit.

The woman looked at him with a blank expression. Then, she said, her face completely blank, "That's easy. I don't... have one."

Light gagged, "W-what?"

"I was kind of... disowned and... never named at birth."

"I-I need more explanation than that."

" Well, okay. My parents kind of... bothered to name my older brother, but gave up with... me. You see, my father... had a fight with my... mother right before I was born, and my father refused to recognize me as his... child. So my mother ended up... giving birth outside a hospital; hence, she... didn't have to give me a name and... didn't care to. She stayed with my father and had another... child by him five years later. But anyways, that's... a bit off topic. Sorry, I was... rambling. I tend to... do that when I talk about... my parents."

The woman sighed and continued, "But at any rate, I have no... official name. I go by a lot of different ones. I have never been able to... get healthcare anywhere because I don't have a... birth certificate or even general proof of my existence. I tried to get these things... straightened out once, but I was mistaken for an illegal immigrant and... tossed across the border. I never knew... that they would react to immigrants that way in... England, but it was probably... just... because the officer I was talking to was... incredibly... sleazy and wanted to punish me for… but anyways. I finally gave up trying to get things done... legally. My passport... is a fake created by some shady guy I... met off the streets. All of my... 'legal' papers are. I change my name whenever I get... bored of the one I am using."

"Why?"

"It…amuses me."

"And?"

"And nothing. I have no name. But... then again, neither does my... younger brother. We always just called him... 'Baby Brother' or 'B.B.' And my elder brother... barely has a name anyway, pretty much... just his last name, which hardly counts, so…"

"Are you serious? That's the real story? What about the orphanage? Wouldn't they have to give you some sort of name?"

"Yeah, that's what... I wondered. But apparently it wasn't... necessary. You see, the... orphanage turned out to be... an un-official orphanage. It was mainly just a zealot ex-nun trying to... take care of about ten kids who had... no parents or anything, but leaving... most of the work to Ms. Smith. It was... shut down by the government about... a year after my brother and I... left, and replaced by... one of the Wammy orphanges."

The nameless woman was quiet for a long time. "You're the first person I've told since…Ryuzaki, actually. You're the first person since him that... asked. But I can... see from your eyes that my ridiculous... tale is still sinking in. How about you... go home, kiss your girlfriend goodnight, sleep on it... and decide in the morning... if you believe what I'm telling you."

Light, still processing the monotone rant he had just heard, could only think to say, "I don't actually live with Misa…"

"Pity. You should. The girl's obviously... crazy about you. It's good to live with people you know, and to keep the... human connections you have. It keeps one... sane... Now go... home."

* * *

><p><strong>If you are reading this note, that means you have probably read the story. If you have read the story, you should review. Please review.<strong>

**This is edited to re-include Regina's characteristic drawing out of speeches, which I unintentionally left out before.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.**


	9. Chapter 9: Black eye, Blue Eye

Chapter 9:

"Dammit, Ryuk," Light said as he got into his car, "She doesn't have a name?"

"Right-o, Light-o," Ryuk rasped.

"I didn't even know that was possible."

"It's possible. Not common, but possible."

"Wouldn't some nickname she'd been given as a kid count as her name? Or one of the fake names she had chosen? Or at least her mother's last name?"

"Nope. In order for someone to have a name they have to have it given to them by their parents, or another group or persons acting as a parent, such as a legal guardian or even the government. But sometimes a kid never gets named by any parental figure; we call them 'unknowns.' They're a little frustrating 'cuz shinigami can't kill them, but it's usually fine since we can always kill someone else."

"Couldn't she get a name somehow?"

"Dunno. I guess there would have to be some sort of community ritual, like adoption or something, where she got named by people she had accepted as her family, and then it would also have to become legal through some form of human government."

Light was quiet. Then he asked, "How many others are there?"

"Unknowns? No clue. They aren't too common in developed countries. You find them more in places like Africa and India."

Light sighed, "So I can't kill her, even if I want to."

"You _can _kill her."

"I am not going to kill anyone like that. It would be too messy." Light sighed, "But what should I do? I told her that Ryuzaki was investigating Kira, and she seems determined to find out more. If she finds out Ryuzaki was L, then she knows L is dead, and then…"

"And then what?"

"I don't know. I don't think she would go to the media with it, but if she did then INTERPOL might begin to wonder and they'd eventually find out."

"And then you wouldn't be L, anymore."

"No. I wouldn't be able to keep track of the situation. So I need to think of some way to take care of her."

Light put his key in the ignition and proceeded to drive back to his apartment.

* * *

><p>When he got there, he sighed to find Misa standing at his door.<p>

"Misa, what are you doing here?"

Misa seemed weary and sad. She looked at Light with puppy eyes. "We never went on our date. That was supposed to be today. Then, that woman got in the way."

That woman. That woman with no name. 'Her.' He couldn't even think of her by the name she gave him, the namelessness suited her better. But he had to focus on Misa now.

"Sorry, Misa, but I had to make sure that she doesn't know crucial information about Kira. Even now, I'm afraid to stop watching her."

Misa was quiet. "Okay, if that's what Light thinks is best," she said, "But can we go on the date now?"

Light sighed. He supposed he owed it to her. "Okay, Misa, let's go."

"Really?" Misa perked up and began jumping up and down. God, he hated it when she was hyper.

"Yeah. Let's go to that restaurant we normally do."

He didn't need to say anything else before Misa was skipping into his car. Light let out a sigh, realizing that it was a small price to pay for the use of her shinigami eyes. A date once a week. He listened to her babble on about this and that, and in exchange he had her loyalty and with that, the ability to kill someone just by having Misa look at their face.

"Come on, Light-o!" she was calling to him.

But he hated his time with her, he realized. He got into the car and began driving. Misa was saying something; he didn't know what it was, as he rarely did. Then she asked him a question. He snapped himself out of the haze of his thoughts and asked, "What?"

"You weren't listening!"

"What was the question?"

"I asked….I mean," Misa lip trembled a little bit, "You said that woman at the hospital was very beautiful."

"I did?"

"Yes."

Light thought back. Had he said that? Why would he say something like that to Misa, especially considering the way she had overreacted at the hospital? He supposed that he had subconsciously wanted to goad Misa even more.

"I only said that to tease you, Misa," Light said with what he hoped was a playful smile on his face. He had to keep his eyes on the road

Misa was quiet for a while. Then she asked, "Do you think I'm prettier than her?"

Typical girl. He humored her, "Of course." It was true. Misa was much better looking than that woman. Much prettier. But…

But what? Why was he even thinking about? There was character in 'that woman's' face: Intelligence, elegance, emotion. And her smile: her slight smirk was more engaging than Misa's commercialistic seduction/puppy-dog beaming that she had developed from modeling.

Yet, he did not like the nameless woman's face, he told himself. 'Like' or 'love' was not the emotion that he felt whenever he saw that woman's face. He had no idea what the feeling was, but it was there. However, listening to Misa, he realized that whatever that feeling was, it was preferable to the annoyance he felt with the blonde sitting next to him.

It was all a blur to him, going to the restaurant, eating with Misa, listening to that voice of hers. Every second, he was thinking about how he could eliminate her, if not by killing her then by...he wasn't sure. Killing her without the Death Note would be messy; he would always be worried that some clue would get out and he would be arrested for the petty murder of a woman.

So he would have to find a way of eliminating her as a threat without killing her. Could he turn her to his side, make her a pawn like Misa? She had seemed sympathetic to Kira's cause, but at the same time she seemed to have her doubts. Also, she seemed far too unstable. He doubted that she would automatically submit to him like Misa had, and if he told her everything, there was no way for him to prevent her from telling everyone, though he doubted anyone would believe her without evidence…

Then it hit him. He knew how he was going to deal with the problem.

* * *

><p>He went over to her apartment again. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Then he heard the nameless woman's voice talking outside the apartment.<p>

"No….No…I tell you…Linda, none of them have answered…for three days…Yes, I know that they often don't…answer, but…"

There was a long silence.

"Something…is wrong…If both Wedy and Aiber aren't answering…and neither is Wammy…thennnnn… I think they might all be dead."

There was another pause, although Light could hear the tinny sound of someone responding over the phone.

"Linda…I really don't know…Maybe Yagami wasn't lying…Oh? That's right…he said Ryuzaki is dead…but… He just showed me a grave marked 'unknown.' He…he must be wrong…I thought…but if Wammy isn't responding too, then…"

Another silence.

"What? A code? Welllll…can you… decipher it? No? Can't you pass it to…"

Another silence, "Yes, I was about to say his name, I am not used this game of hiding names…N, then…glad you knew immediately who I was talking about. He was…always good at those…Linda… Give it to him and see if he can figure it out… This is good. Thank you, Linda…I knew he wouldn't die without…leaving some sort of clue…call me later."

Light heard her hang up and come around the corner. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him.

"Light…? What…are…you…doing…here? What could you possibly have to ask me now?"

"I wanted to..." he paused, "invite you to a game of tennis."

Regina was quiet, "What?"

Light said, "I want to play a game of tennis with you."

"Are you…implying that we become… friends?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Isn't that what you said? A friend is someone that you've played tennis with at least once?"

She stared at him, hesitation in her eyes. "I…it's just that…"

"What?"

"I'm a horrible… tennis player…"

* * *

><p>It turned out she was, as she said, a horrible tennis player. She couldn't even hit the ball in the right direction. So they quit after a few minutes, and instead he decided to take her ice skating.<p>

The fresh, cool air in the indoor ice skating rink was refreshing, though the nameless woman was clumsy with the skates at first. She practically fell over when she first stepped on the ice, but he caught her hand. She flushed when he did, and muttered something under her breath, and gliding unsteadily out onto the ice. He followed her.

They skated around the rink, and the nameless woman commented, "It's only…going around in circles…"

"Can I ask you something?" Light said.

"Ohhhhh? Continuing our…little questioning game?"

"No. I just want to know something casual. What should I call you now?"

"Regina…until I get bored of it."

They skated around more.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"I want to become friends with you, Regina."

She turned and looked at him coldly. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Because…because-" but she couldn't finish.

He decided to start a friendly conversation with her, something that wouldn't involve Ryuzaki, Kira, or her brother, but would be simply an enjoyable conversation. He began, "I was wondering, Regina, what exactly do you do in your spare time? You mentioned an online book club, once."

"I did? Ohhhhh, I remember… that was…true, to a certain extent…You see, there are these…kids in England that I taught to for a while. They still like to discuss literature and other such things with me every now and then…so I promised that…I would be online at that time."

"So, what kind of kids are they?"

"Absolutely brilliant. Truly, I had… no place teaching there. Every single kid spoke at least five languages fluently…to be honest, I learned Japanese from one of them. They…enjoyed my lessons, though." She was beginning to pant a little as she spoke, put out from the exercise.

"Where was this?"

"An orphanage. I…decided to teach there after… my last encounter with Ryuzaki. I decided that…for three years, I needed something to…occupy my time. And I was able to learn Japanese, so that I could…be fluent when I came."

"So what do you do in your free time now?"

She stared at him. "Funny…free time from what? My personal quest…would be considered a hobby back when I had a job…working at the orphanage. However…now it is my job, and my main hobby."

He stared at her. "There's nothing else?"

"Talking to you. But that's part of it. Ohhhh, three other things: the book club…which I told you about…playing the piano…reading…and…opera."

"You play the piano?"

"Yeeeeesssssss. I play…well enough."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was a…child prodigy. That is how I earned money…originally. I had a teacher who...got me very far and put me in...a lot of competitions. Now, I just play through the scores to operas."

"You really like opera?"

"I really…like…opera," she stated. "You see, I…never went to school…However, I grew up in an…isolated environment where I learned two things…music and literature. And a little math. Quiz me on the most basic fact of history, geography, or science and I'm stumped. However…I became…a talented young musician…and I earned money through concerts and contests...until I was fourteen." They were still going clumsily in circles, following the flow of the other skaters. Light noted that Regina, despite carrying herself with absolutely correct posture, was rather ungraceful in physical activity.

"Then?"

"I quit in order to search for my brother."

"Hmm," he wondered where he could steer the conversation without it going back to that, "What's one opera you really like?"

"_Turandot_…is lovely…It has the most beautiful music, though the plot is a bit…nonsensical."

"What is it about?"

"Ohhhh, well, there's this…Princess, named Turandot, who is the heir to the throne, but refuses to… marry. She poses all of her suitors… three riddles, and if they cannot answer all of them, then… they die. And so she…murders many princes with her…beauty. For men lose their better judgment at the sight of her, and…she uses this as a way to avenge the crimes that foreign men committed against her ancestors."

"Hmm," Light said, half-listening to the melodramatic story.

"But…then, one day, a prince come who answers all of her riddles…She is furious, but…she has one last chance…to avoid marriage. She must decipher only one riddle: what…is the prince's name? If she discovers it, he will die."

Light got chills, immediately thinking of Kira, and the necessity of a name to kill. Was she telling him this fairy-tale on purpose, to see his reaction? He said, smoothly, "Continue, it's interesting."

"I didn't know you…liked fairy-tales like this, Light…or are you just being courteous? Never mind… Princess Turandot has until sunrise to discover the prince's name. So, she goes and tortures…two people seen previously talking to him…in order to find his name. The people turn out to be his father and…a young girl who is in love with him…The young girl commits suicide to prevent herself from talking. The father is heartbroken, as this girl had accompanied him during his long exile. And so, the nameless prince…challenges Turandot, upbraiding her for her coldness and her cruelty…and then…it is very cheesy, but he kisses her, and…" Regina was breathing harshly now. Her brows were furrowed with concetration as she glided through the ice.

"And then…?" prompted Light.

"And then, nothing. The composer died before he could…finish it. I…really… Well, someone finished it for him… In this ending, Turandot and the prince kiss, she falls in love, forgets everything else and…they get married. But that's a fake ending."

"I see."

"What I believe would have happened…is that…Turandot-"

She didn't get to finish, as the blade of her skate caught on a niche in the ice, and she fell over. Light reached for her too late, and she fell silently on her face and palms. The people skating by didn't make it any easier. She tried to get up, but slipped and fell silently once again. He stooped grabbed her hand, pulling her up. Her hand flew up and covered her right eye.

He looked at her. Her face was red but her expression was stoic and unchanged.

"Did something happen to your eye?" he asked.

"I lost my contact lens." They were jostled by the skaters going by, "I need to find it… before it is ripped in half by some…. idiotic skater…" she looked frantically around, and then dropped to her knees on the ice, still clutching her eye.

"Here, let me help," Light said. He bent his knees and looked around for the contact as well. It was annoying, he thought, to stoop on the ice like this, but it was a friendly gesture, and his goal at the moment was to get Regina to trust him. Luckily, the skaters managed to skate around them, forming a safe oval. By some miracle, he clutched the clear lens on the ice.

"Regina, I found it," he told her.

"Good," she said, holding out her hand and thus uncovered her eye.

Light's knees buckled and he collapsed on the ice. His entire body trembled, and he felt a sensation like he had been struck by lightning. Her eye was solid black, like a deep hole. Regina's every other feature ceased to exist, and there was only that deep black hole which seemed to strike him in the heart, filling him with…fear? Hatred?

"Light…you dropped my…contact," said Regina's voice, bringing him back to reality.

"I'm sorry; I don't know what's wrong with me."

The eye stared at him hollowly, without expression.

"Well…there is no point…trying to find it again…" Regina said, pulling herself up.

"Y-yeah," Light agreed, standing up himself.

That eye, that black eye.

"Here, let us…leave this…pointless circle," the nameless woman that he called Regina suggested. He nodded mutely and followed her to the exit, barely aware of his surroundings until they sat down at a table. She stared at him through both black eye and blue eye. One was what he had associated with Regina, the other was…from a nightmare. He saw her looking through her purse, her face turned to where he could only see the blue eye. In a little while, she her right eye had turned from black to blue.

How was it that that simple color switch changed her appearance so much?

"What's wrong…Light? You seem…a little pale…like you've seen a ghost…Is it really so shocking that I have a different eye color?"

"N-no, not that. It's just, it changes your looks so much."

"Ahhhhhh, so I'm an ugly witch when I'm not blue-eyed."

"Of course not. I only…why do you want to look so different?"

"Because I am… unsatisfied with the way I look. Why don't you ask your girlfriend…Misa's her name? She clearly wears blue contacts and dyes her hair…or did you not know…that she does that?"

"No, I knew that she dyes her hair and wears contacts to make her eyes blue, but…I don't know."

"I suppose it's just that… I… can actually pull it off to make it look… natural. I bet you can't tell that red is not my natural…color."

"Maybe that's it," he said. Wait, her hair was dyed as well? He realized to himself that he had no idea what the woman behind her makeup, contacts, and hair-dye looked like. He had no idea what Regina…

No, 'Regina' was just a fake person that this nameless person put up as a front. The real woman had a different face entirely. He gave the woman a shallow smile. Why was that eye so…surreal, so terrifying? His brain raced for an answer, and came up with one.

He had seen it, that eye, somewhere before. It was _familiar. _Had he met Regina at some point, before the day at the restaurant?

"We really need to do this more often, Regina," he said, "I feel that I learn so much more about you every time."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there's chapter 9. Sorry for the delay, but to be honest I was considering dropping the whole story. Now, my resolve is up again, and I hope to be updating it soon.<strong>

**Thank you for reading this. And special thanks to the people who have bothered to review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note**


	10. Chapter 10: Befriending the Unknown

Chapter 10:

Over the next week, Light devoted much of his energy to befriending Regina, the nameless woman. He went over to her every day, played games with her, talked to her, took walks with her, showed her to different restaurants, and did everything to try to get her to be friendly with him.

Every time he walked into her apartment, he saw a familiar glint of mistrust in her eyes, her blue eyes that were actually nightmare-black. She answered his questions when he talked, but refused to start any conversations herself. She agreed to go to the restaurants, but never ordered until he suggested something. She played games with him, chess, checkers, cards, but would focus only on the game and would not look him in the eye. He knew that she was holding back.

One day, she repeated the question she asked when they were skating: "Why are you… doing this? I don't understand…"

Light had rehearsed the answer, because he knew she would ask it again, "Regina, I really like you. I haven't talked with anyone as interesting as you in a long time," for some reason, L flashed through his mind. "And, I think that you need someone right now."

She flinched.

"You don't have a family. Do you have any friends?"

Regina's face was stony, "No."

"Acquaintances? Anyone that you have known long term?"

"No. Unless you count the kids at the orphanage."

Light said, "I thought so. Regina…I just don't want you to be alone."

She stared shrewdly at him. "I… do not believe…that you are saying the truth."

"Regina, please believe that I want the best for you."

"I...But you are a liar…remember?"

"Do you still believe that I am lying about Ryuzaki's death?"

Her expression darkened and her hand convulsed for a second. He imagined how unsettling it would be if she was looking at him through her true, black eyes. But then, her expression relaxed, washed over by a dull look of sadness. "No, I don't believe you are lying about that anymore… He must be dead. That is… the only reason he wouldn't have sent someone at the restaurant…" she closed her eyes, "But…at the same time…" she fell silent and didn't finish her question.

No, no, no, this wasn't working. He had to take her mind off of Ryuzaki, had to make her forget her search for her brother for a little while. She needed to enjoy her time with him; she needed to look forward to him coming by. This…was not working. There had to be some way to get her to drop her guard, to do something with him that would make her forget about her caution and just be happy and enjoy herself.

He thought of something, "Regina? Can I make a request?"

"What…would that be?"

"Well, I don't think I have actually heard you play the piano…."

* * *

><p>Having her play the piano was the turning point, the perfect and only way to make her forget.<p>

They went to To-Oh University, and used the practice rooms there. She brought a stack of music, and he could see a shine in her eyes as she pulled out a heap of yellow music pages with the name _Turandot _written on them.

"This is the opera I was... telling you about. I won't play through all of it…but just some of my favorite parts?"

"Yes, of course."

She placed the pages on the piano. She stared at them for a long time, and then she said out of the blue, "You know, it's been… forever since I've actually played in front of anybody."

"Forever, as in…?"

"As in…three years."

"It's okay. I am sure that you will be great."

She smirked, "You base that…assumption on very little evidence. But…I guess I better begin without delay."

Then, without another word her hands delicately plucked a few opening chords, soft and subtly disturbing in their tonality. Then, she launched into a wild, sad melody, which flew aggressively to every part of the piano. Light nearly jumped at the violence of the transition. He saw her smirk at his reaction and she continued with the melody for a minute, before she brought it to an abrupt halt. "That was the melody from the opening."

Light blown away by her power and control of the piano, could only say, "Wow."

* * *

><p>He googled "piano prodigies in England," hoping to find some information about this person that he was working on, whom he was playing an invisible chess game with, although she only sensed slightly that he was her opponent. He was frustrated as he realized that he would probably never be able to tell which of the ones he read about was her, as she almost definitely had a stage name different from the one she was currently using.<p>

He uncovered something that tweaked his interest: an English article about the follies of forcing children into becoming musical prodigies. The article used, as an example, the case of Sonia Lacrimosa, a young piano prodigy who apparently had caught the eye of the musical world by performing difficult pieces at a young age, but whose career ended when she was fourteen. The article talked about the rumors of her mental instability, including one story about how she suddenly suffered a mental breakdown that caused her to cancel a concert. It then compared her to several other piano prodigies who had caught public attention when they were young, but whose careers ended early because they broke down under the stress.

He looked up Sonia Lacrimosa, but what he found was a picture of a blond girl with green eyes. That didn't match either what Regina was now, or what she seemed to be beneath it all: black haired and black eyed. That meant that the percentage that Sonia was Regina dropped by about… Dammit, those percentages were still stuck in his head. He looked up the other prodigies, but none of their descriptions matched either.

* * *

><p>"Let's continue our questioning game for a while," Light told her one time when they were sitting in the park after a refreshing walk.<p>

"Oh? And what…exactly…do you want to ask, Light?"

"What did you think of Ryuzaki?"

She thought, "I can't really…explain it. As I said I…was not a friend or lover or colleague or anything of the sort…and I only met him…five times, quite a few of which were not under the best of circumstances. But…"

"But what?"

"I don't know…I talked to him the first time and…after that, it seemed like everyone else was transparent…like Ryuzaki managed to say more in a sentence than everyone I had ever met managed to say in all of our conversations…like he actually _did _say something, while everyone else babbled about nonsense. And…like he actually…looked at me…he actually _saw _me…That somehow, I was an invisible entity to everyone else, but… he could somehow see me. Not that he _liked _me. I got the feeling that he didn't care about… anyone or anything…but at the same time… he was the only person that…knew I existed…the only person I could…talk to. The only one who could…answer me."

Light pondered this. "I suppose he was the only person you had met that was intelligent enough to talk with you about what you wanted to discuss."

"No… I had known intelligent people before…such as my piano teacher, and the old woman who taught me… literature. But they…never really talked to me…they just taught me."

"Tell me about your literature teacher and piano teacher."

"Well…" she hesitated, "My literature teacher wasn't…really a teacher. You see, she was an old woman with no friends or family… who loved reading but…unfortunately…had gone blind. One day, I was stealing from her, and…I was caught. She said that…she would let me go if I promised to read _Paradise Lost _out loud…to her. I did. And then…we sort of worked out a deal that she would…pay me to read these books to her…"

"That is an odd situation."

"Is it? I don't know…people had paid companions that read aloud to them…in stories like _The Queen of Spades_…"

"Yes, but that was a long time ago, like in the nineteenth century."

"Oh."

"And your piano teacher?"

"…Was a friend of the old lady…who was once a great piano teacher but…had lost his clients because of his harsh temper…so he taught me… out of boredom. I ended up reading books such as…_Crime and Punishment _when I was nine, and practicing…eight hours a day on the piano…because it was better than…being on the street, where I still lived…until I began doing concerts. You don't quite believe my story." Light was about to protest, but she stopped him, "That's fine. Whenever I tell someone, it feels like an act, like I am rehearsing a monologue from some…play, or reading out a… melodramatic story like _Jane Eyre._" Light, saw the bored, blank and almost dead look on her face. "I don't really believe myself. I am…probably lying about some part of it…exaggerating, coloring up the details without knowing… Have you ever told an unbelievable truth to people so often that you begin to wonder yourself if it was a lie?"

Light thought about the time when he had lost his memories of being Kira. When that had happened, he was convinced of his own innocence, and kept reminding L that he was _not Kira. _Eventually, after saying it so much, listening to Ryuzaki's arguments, and wondering if Kira's morality was actually evil, he almost became convinced that he was the mass murderer. And it turned out that, yes, he was.

"Yes, I know the feeling," Light said.

"I believe that you were actually…being honest there. So…we have something in common."

"I have another question for you," Light told her.

"What…could that be?

"Are you Sonia Lacrimosa? The English piano prodigy who quit due to mental health issues?"

"I…was."

"But I looked at the pictures, she looks nothing like you."

"I change my…appearance every now and then, along with my name. I try to shed my appearance…and put on a new one…"

"Why?"

"It…amuses me."

Light sighed, "I can't help thinking that you have some sort of dark, secret reason from hiding your identity so thoroughly, and changing your name and appearance so often."

"There is… no reason. I am some driftwood in the world with no identity…no roots… so I amuse myself by making fake ones. And now, you have to answer my questions."

Light groaned, but she said, "Nothing too difficult. First…how do you actually feel about your girlfriend Misa?"

That was the last question he had expected her to ask. "Why do you want to knw?"

"I believe it is… necessary for me to know, in order to make an…accurate judge of your character."

"I...I…don't know how to answer that."

"Do you love her?"

"No."

"So…honest… Then why do you stay with her?"

"Because…she seems infatuated with me and I don't want to hurt her feelings."

She glanced him skeptically.

"Also, she's…capable, in her way."

"Useful? Is that what you mean?"

"Dammit, Regina. Why do you keep saying things like that? Look me in the eyes: do I look like a guy who uses a girl's feelings for his own ends?"

Regina blinked, "The 'look me in the eyes' trick is very, very…cheesy."

* * *

><p>It was not a nightmare.<p>

A nightmare meant the dreamer was afraid, but Light was definitely neither afraid, nor guilty. It was, though, a restless dream that seemed to drain his energy when he woke up.

It began as some bells were tolling. L kept falling out of his chair over and over again, as he had on the day he died. And he had found himself somehow staring into L's dying, black eyes while watching him fall, and then suddenly they were Naomi Misora's eyes right before she had walked off to her suicide. Why had he dreamt these things? He didn't know. Again, he felt no guilt about either murder, and yet neither could he get either off his mind. They just… stayed with him, hung around him as persistently as Ryuk.

He reasoned with himself, waking up, that it was probably because they were the only two people whose eyes he had looked into while he was killing them.

* * *

><p>After a week, he found that she was opening up to him more with every visit. One day, he came to her apartment to find her standing right outside, waiting for him. He talked first.<p>

"Hello, Light," she said without smiling.

"Hello, Regina." He smiled. She greeted him first: this was a victory. She seemed to be waiting for him, as well. Perhaps she was finally beginning to see him as a friend.

"You look…awful… Why?" she asked.

He sighed, "I don't know. I had the same dream repeat itself over and over again for a couple of nights."

"Hmmmmmmm," was all Regina said, her voice laced with sarcasm, "Well…what do you plan to do…today, Light Yagami? Ice-skating? Café? A walk? What will…further your goal, whatever it is?" the last bit was sharp and undoubtedly hostile. He reconsidered his previous notion that she was opening up.

"I am not trying to get something out of you! When will you believe me?"

She said nothing, but looked away. Was she having doubts?

"Do I really look like I am only doing this because I want some information out of you?"

She looked at him blankly, "Yes."

He felt his neck tense, and his face turn red. All his thoughts that he had been getting her to open up to him fled. Unless… unless she was hiding it. "Would you prefer it if I left and never came back?" he asked her.

She stared him down, completely empty at this suggestion.

"I see. I'm sorry I came," Light told her, and he turned around walked away.

"No_._" It was barely a whisper.

Light smirked. He had her.

"I…don't…want…I…just…" she couldn't even speak clearly, "You're the only…my only…"

He wiped the smirk off his face, put on his "concerned" look, and turned around. She was obviously struggling between her distrust of him and her need to rely on the only person who had reached out to her as a friend.

"Do you want to go to To-Oh? I would like to hear you play the piano again, Regina."

It was the perfect thing to say. Her eyes were flooded with a look of vulnerability. Then she gulped, and the shrewd look returned in her eye. "I…"

"It's okay… I know it can be hard to trust someone at first. But please understand that I only want to help." He walked up to her, "Do you trust me, Regina?"

She swallowed, "No…no I don't, Light. Even just now…I am convinced that you…didn't mean…what you said…"

He was confused, "But, you don't want me to leave."

"I don't."

"Why?"

"You're…the only person…besides Ryuzaki…that has...has...that I…" suddenly, she let out a cry of frustration and slammed her fist against wall. "Damn it all!"

There was a long moment of silence as the anger left Regina's features and her posture slumped tiredly against the wall she had just hit. After recovering herself, Regina said in a defeated and controlled tone, her eyes focused listlessly on the floor, "You are… the only person, except for… Ryuzaki, that I have… played the piano in front of since I… stopped when I was fourteen."

Light was silent for a long time, "Then, don't hit the wall again." She looked at him dumbly. "You could injure your hand that way, and you wouldn't be able to play for a while," he said, giving her a friendly smile.

* * *

><p>He knew he had her trust. Now, he had to execute the second stage of his plan.<p>

"Ryuk?"

"Yes, Light?"

"I have told you to stay away from Regina these past few days."

"Yeah, and?"

"And now, we are moving on to the next stage."

"Hyeh, hyeh, hyeh."

"Now, go amuse yourself, Ryuk. Do everything you can to drive her out of her mind: tear up her place, chase her around the room, whatever it takes. In fact, stay constantly by her side from now on, but don't explain anything to her"

"And what do you plan after I do that, Light-o?"

"Then, of course, she'll be so distraught that she'll gladly accept the advice and direction of the one person who has offered her friendship."

Ryuk cackled, "What makes you think I'll do everything you say, Light?"

"Because, I assure you that it will be," he smirked, "very, very interesting."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay...to be honest, I am feeling a little lack of confidence about this story, as I recently found one with a few similar concepts, such as namelessness. However, I decided that my story was different enough that I wasn't unknowingly plagiarizing.<strong>

**Disclaimer: I am not as creative as some fanfiction writers about disclaimers, but I think it is enough to say that I don't own Death Note.**


End file.
